Shiro-fukurō Harii
by Lighted Candle
Summary: After the final battle (which happened on Harry's 15th birthday- Hogwarts events happened two years earlier than they did in canon), Harry moved away from England. Hiding his tracks and eventually trading Gryffindor's sword to the goblins to go through a portal, Harry moves to Fire Country on the shinobi continent...
1. Chapter 1: Moving into Konoha

Shiro-fukurō Harii

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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Naruto.

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Author's Notes: New prompts for HP/Naruto crossovers are on my profile

_**Back History-**_ Hogwarts started at age 9, so the war Harry Potter fought in happened earlier. Events played out that Bill Weasley tutored Harry in runes and by the end of the war could be considered as experienced in runes as Bill, but Harry still has a long way to go before becoming a rune master. In his time running around with Hermione and Ron to destroy Horcruxes, they run into a perceptive muggle. (The 'muggle' had been a wizard, but had lost his magic in his youth. So he knew spells and about the magically world but had to learn to adapt to the muggle world). The muggle taught them the basics of meditation and hand-to-hand combat. The yoga meditation was far more effective for Harry to learn occulmacy (Snape's lessons' had shredded his shields) and when Harry realizes this, he focused mainly on yoga or active meditation. Ron and Hermione focused their time more on hand-to-hand combat. The Wizarding war ended a year or two sooner than it does in canon.

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Harry is very much human and not all-powerful. There was no special power in the 'Master of Death' legend. In this author/reader's opinion, the best movies or books have flawed characters that don't automatically win or lose.

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Sick of the wizarding world's blase attitude to everything and tired of being 'controlled' or manipulated, Harry moves to Konoha when he is 15 (right after he took his OWLs) once the war is over. He mainly only uses wandless (a talent he hid from both his allies and enemies as he developed it) or runic magic. Controlled wandless magic had been boosted with meditation. Naruto is around 10, two years from graduation.

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Chapter 1: Moving into Konoha

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Someone had moved into the apartment across the hallway. A foreigner. Young Naruto shrugged as he opened the door to his living space. They would know of his reputation soon enough, so why bother introducing himself. Hopefully they wouldn't cause him much trouble.

Yet two mornings later as Naruto left in a rush to get to the Shinobi Academy, he almost knocked someone standing in front of his door over. To this day, no one had ever come to his door with peaceful intentions. (Shinobi or Ninjas tended to use the windows). So when Naruto geared himself up for a fight, he blinked when a white bag was pushed into his hands.

"Good morning." The stranger said. Naruto was left a little stumped. He couldn't recall anyone besides Jiji wishing him a good morning.

"Who are you?" Uzumaki Naruto boldly stared at the green-eyed, raven-haired foreigner who didn't appear that much older than Naruto.

"Shiro-fukurō Hari. What is your name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto! And I am going to be Hokage!"

Hari's lips twitched in amusement, "Alright."

Naruto stopped and inspected the stranger further. There was no hint of any mocking scorn or doubt in the older boy's shadowed green eyes. Did all higher level shinobi have those eyes? Was Hari a jounin? Naruto's blue eyes darted to the white bag in his hand.

"It's just some bread. I made a bit too much." Hari explained softly. Naruto struggled to react. This stranger with the shadows of a shinobi was more open than he would have expected if this was an attempt to poison Naruto. Confused, suspicious, and ever hopeful, Naruto found himself as a loss at words as White Owl Needle- (and what kind of name was needle?) flattened his bangs and continued speaking, "See you around then? Hope your day goes well." Before the hyper ninja-to-be could recover, Hari had disappeared and then Naruto remembered that he was late to class.

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Hari, formerly known as Harry Potter, had settled into Konoha with little fuss. Hari had been wary of the run down reddish apartment building, not because of any threat or faulty worn down walls, but because of the landlord. The landlord could have been a problem, as he seemed intrusive and greedy, but Hari had experience in dealing with money-grabbers. In the end, Hari bought a cheap apartment, one that needed some remodeling, but with Hari's skills wouldn't take that much to fix.

On his second day in Konoha, Hari emerged from his apartment, hands stained with ink. Hari proceeded to casually inspect the rest of the building, locked doors unlocking with the flick of a finger. After a quick inspection, he relocked them with another slight hand movement. As Hari had suspected, most of the apartments were empty. Only one, other than his own, was occupied. Hari descended into the basement and strengthened the foundations of the building with ink that glowed before fading or more accurately sinking into invisibility. Around lunchtime, Hari strolled outside. After a few turns and twists, Hari twitched as he realized he didn't know which way to go. Pretending he wasn't lost (really he wasn't!), Hari took a longer walk. Eventually, after finding several dead ends, Hari asked a local citizen where the market was. At the market, Hari bought fresh groceries and retraced his steps, finally making it back home to the apartment building. That's when he got a good look at his neighbor. An orange bullet sped past him, making Hari blink in surprise before shrugging. A human orange bullet was hardly the strangest sight he had ever seen, even if that shade of orange was a step away from being part of Dumbledore-styled wardrobe. Hari lifted an eyebrow when he passed by the shouting landlord arguing with the short orange person. His neighbor was even younger than he was. Maybe there was someone else living with the yellow haired child, but Hari doubted it.

Unable to sleep after a vivid nightmare, Hari stretched before meandering into his kitchen. Before long, Hari had several different types of loaves, including banana and zucchini bread. Extending, his senses, Hari was not surprised to find someone keeping an eye on his location. This was a ninja village after all and foreigners were likely all put under watch. Not to mention, not many people wake around one or two in the morning and make several sweet breads when they can't sleep. Putting the last batch in the oven, Hari grinned sheepishly at the army of loaves. At this rate, the ninja probably thought he was a misplaced baker. Not that Hari really cared about anyone else's opinion, but Hari did need to do something with all the baked goods. After the childhood he had, and then the war... Hari usually couldn't stomach more food than a few mouthfuls per meal. One loaf would last a week or so, but he had too much! If he really wanted, he could build a bakery. But that was too much work than Hari wanted to do even if baking was another calming activity. He didn't want to interact with people too much, as he was afraid of becoming attached or being reminded of the people he had killed in his war or even reminded of the friends who were still alive. Shaking the unpleasant thoughts away and increasing his mind barriers, Hari huffed, hmm...

Hari thought back over his memories of his first two days in Konoha. The only ninja's Hari had met so far were the gate guards. Hari wondered if they'd even accept the loaves. Despite their cheerful demeanor, they had the potential to be as paranoid than Moody. Then there was the orange, yellow-haired loudmouth who had been yelling at the landlord. The younger boy acted a lot like Ron used to, but Hari needed more observation to come to a conclusion of his neighbor's true character. Hari could give some to the boy, but who else? The fifteen year old paced before stopping, enlightenment having brightened his smile the tiniest bit, before scowling. Konoha was a ninja village, part of the fighting lifestyle of ninja created orphans. If he couldn't find the orphanage, he could just feed the birds. At least then his bread wouldn't spoil. (Not that Hari would let it- he was a wizard who dabbled in runic magic, his bread could be served ten years from today still freshly baked. And Hari already had a supply of emergency food). Conjuring a white bag, Hari packed up five of the sweet breads for his neighbor before he repeating the process for the orphanage.

Hari wondered if his neighbor was an orphan. If he really had been living in the other apartment for a while, it would explain the loudmouth's lack of cooking skills and the scattered trash. It was either that or his parents were on a mission for the leader of the village and the other boy just really liked ramen. Looking out the window, it was hard to miss how dark and still the night was. As he really didn't want to sleep and see the horrors of his past, Hari sat down in a meditative pose.

The dark-haired teenager slowly opened his brilliantly green eyes to spot the pre-dawn sky. Hari sat on the windowsill to watch. The stars began to fade as the light grew stronger, colors painting the horizon like heralds of the arising sun. It amazed him that it had already been almost a year since the last battle of the wizarding war. And it was several months since he had left Britain behind for this hidden and forgotten dimension. Hari had yet to regret the move. No one here knew Shiro-fukurō Hari as Harry Potter, 'Boy-Who-Lived' (twice) or the 'Man-Who-Conquered'. Hari made a face as he remembered those titles that had haunted his footsteps in the wizarding world. As Hari, he could choose to be helpful and good rather than be manipulated into it, given no choice. His favorite part about being Hari, was that he was finally free of the Dursleys. As Hari, Harry was free, freer than he had ever been since before his parents had died. Maybe not even then as certain factions had either been focused on killing him or figuring out if he was the 'child of prophesy'. Hari scoffed. Just because he defeated Voldemort, didn't mean he was a hero of legends or would continue to put up with the Wizarding's World lack of sense and fickle feelings. Honestly, most of his 'allies' were backstabbing traitors. At least most of his enemies were honest abut their desire to kill him. As long as his past didn't... wait, Hari didn't finish that thought. With his luck, something would happen even if he just thought about it despite all his precautions.

Emitting a wandless pulse of magic, Hari identified a couple of new observers. They must have switched shifts while he was meditating. Hari grabbed one of the white bags of bread out of a cupboard and left the room. Maybe his neighbor was still at home. Approaching the only other occupied apartment in the building, hearing someone running around on the other side of the door, Hari stepped up to knock. But before he could knock, the door slammed open. Hari took a wary step backwards as the orange bullet exited his apartment at a near run and skidded to a stop in front of him. Did the kid never slow down? Just in case, Hari handed the white bag over before the humanized orange bullet could take off.

"Good morning." Hari mumbled quietly.

"Who are you?" The orange bullet hollered, blue eyes glinting in determination and a tiny amount of confusion.

"Shiro-fukurō Hari. What is your name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto! And I am going to be Hokage!"

Hari's lips twitched in amusement, "Alright."

The boy peered up at him, even squinting a little, before looking away to the white bag in Naruto's hand.

"It's just some bread. I made a bit too much." Hari explained, taking the time to examine the yellow haired boy. As Naruto's wary blue eyes met Hari's green eyes, the foreigner realized Naruto's body language looked a bit too familiar. Hadn't Hari himself reacted the same way the first times he ever received a bit of kindness? Hari flattened his bangs nervously, "See you around then? Hope your day goes well." Hari retreated back into his apartment before Naruto could say anything.


	2. Chapter 2: Exploring Konoha

Shiro-fukurō Harii

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Naruto.

Chapter 2: Exploring Konoha

Author's Note:

In answer to a question, the ANBU haven't noticed any of Hari's skills. They are just keeping an eye on him because he is a civilian moving in next to Naruto. Hari bought a few supplies beforehand and had the windows closed while he was repairing anything major. Most everything was patched or fixed with runes (which was why Hari's hands were covered in ink), and the runes were 'absorbed' into whatever they are drawn to fix. Hari opened his windows only after his walls were painted and basic wards already anchored, so the ANBU didn't notice anything off. (They were monitoring his faint chakra signal to 'see' where Hari was.)

Ninja skills are geared more specialized for war, while wizarding skills are more multi-purpose. Chakra is more balanced energy that anyone with enough training could use while 'magic' is the ability to have and use larger than normal spiritual energy. On a one on one battle, the ninja is more likely to win. However, given that they use energy differently, simple things can cause greater damage. On the other hand, with forewarning a (smart) wizard is more likely to be able to defend a place or take advantage.

**Backstory Info-** While Hari knows how to survive (what plants to eat, how to remain hidden, how live in the wild/ suburban city), he doesn't know how to fight ninja style. Harry's fighting strength is in his magic skills (mainly wandless and runic), some non-magic/ non-chakra healing, partial infiltration, speed and wild luck. So while Harry was a child soldier (and abused/ neglected by the Dursleys), he's not as well trained as a ninja would be. Yes there were a couple of big (front line) battles, but not as many as there would have been in a ninja war and all of them were using a form of ninjutsu. Hari has some weapons, but doesn't really know how to use them. And Hari's skills with taijutsu or hand-to-hand combat is almost non-existent.

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Retrieving the remaining loaves, Hari set out for the day. He frowned slightly as not even five steps out of the apartment building, someone triggered his perimeter ward. But for whatever reason the ninja decided to investigate his apartment, Hari was confident that they wouldn't discover his runes unless they were close to being rune masters, but that was always a possibility however remote even if Hari originated from a different dimension. Anything truly important was always kept with him. The wizarding war had taught him that much in terms of paranoia. In attempting to get to the orphanage, Hari found himself being greeted by a tottering teenager instead.

"Pardon me, my legs just aren't working right. My sensei's a menace." And the girl, who appeared to be around Hari's age collapsed on the ground.

Hari looked at the teenage girl skeptically, "This early in the morning?"

"Maa... I had training all night." She explained, making no move to get off the dirt floor now that she had found an audience.

"What kind of training?"

"All of us genins on my team are training to be medic-nins of a sort." She pulled out something that looked like a long needle and used it to pin back her hair.

"Medic-nins?" Hari wasn't sure if this girl was just happy to have an audience or an upper ninja testing if he was really a civilian. But whoever had entered his apartment had left only about a minute ago, so she wasn't probing to know his skills. However, she might be trying to gather information on him for a random test for her 'sensei'. After all, if anything random was to happen, Hari often ended up in the middle of the chaos.

"Hey! Medic-nins are awesome, awesome like stealing Uncle's syrup jars." Whether she was an adversary or not, she did seem believably dizzy.

Hari sighed, before offering a hand out, "How far's your place?"

The girl blinked up at him suspicious, "You're not a pervert right?"

"No." Hari snorted, meeting her eyes truthfully, "There's too many if the blatant display of books with questionable material is flaunted so easily. Besides, it's always a good idea to not tick off a future healer." Eying the long needle in the girl's hair, Hari remembered what it was like at the mercy of a seamstress and added, "Or a tailor."

"True. Well, I need to get home to my family. So, nice meeting you." The girl flounced off the ground and began to walk away. She stumbled and fell.

"That training session playing hide and seek must have been rough." Hari sympathized, at least she was getting training. In his experience, he had been thrown straight into a battle or sent on the run without any or much preparation. Which, in the end, made sense when Dumbledore finally confessed to Severus Snape that Hari needed to die to get rid of the Dark Lord. But still, the war would have been over a lot sooner if not for Dumbledore's plans.

"You've no idea." The brown haired young ninja grumbled, hissing as she rubbed out a tangled muscle, "Adapting to terrain in the dark is hard."

Hari nodded as he pulled her up, "The dark does tend to make things confusing. Unless there is loud cover, there are at least stars. Which way?"

"You're not serious! You don't seem like a ninja. I had you pegged for a civilian." The girl, who admittedly looked familiar to someone else that Hari had met within the past few days, blurted out.

"Well... you're not wrong. I am a civilian." Hari shrugged, slightly wincing at her loud enthusiasm, "How'd you know that anyway?"

"Your weak chakra signature and you were indicating that you knew how to navigate by the stars."

"I somewhat do." Hari replied bemused, (he would know the stars better if they hadn't shifted, but he still knew his basic directions), "But not everything is a ninja art. My godfather's clan traditionally named their children by the stars. After I found that out, I collected star charts and learned how to navigate by them. And what's chakra? Is that how ninja's stick to walls sideways?"

"...Kinda. Turn left down that road. Chakra is a balance of spiritual and physical energies. Different mixtures of the two energies produce jutsus. My apartment is just around the corner. Oh look, there's blood following that trashcan." The girl giggled as she pointed at a random person.

"...How close are you to collapsing?" After examining that random person, just in case, Hari started pulling the dark-eyed rookie ninja faster down the road. He really didn't want to end up in the incoming awkward moment if she fell asleep in his arms.

"I can hold out until I reach my bed. I'm really tired." The girl yawned, stumbling along.

"I can tell." Hari grunted, "Does anyone else live at your apartment?"

"Hnn. My mom. And sometimes my uncle and his adopted twin."

"Okay." Hari shifted his arm to knock on the door of the apartment that was surprisingly close.

"Hello- Hanae!"

"I think she may have hit her head." Hari informed the girl's mother as he gently pushed her into her mother's arms.

"Did not!" Hanae protested as her mother immediately began fussing over her health.

"So... you always drop exhausted in front of a stranger? One that you neglected to introduce yourself to." Hari teased as he separated five loaves into another bag. While he was here, he might as well take the chance to get rid of a few more of the sweet loaves.

"Opps." Hanae muttered even as her mother scolded her. Yet her mother barely blinked when Hanae toppled over unconscious.

"She constantly over does things." the brown haired woman sighed in exasperation, before turning to address Hari, "Please forgive my daughter her rudeness. My name is Kamizuki Izumi and my daughter's name is Hanae."

Hari returned an equal bow, "Pleasure to meet you, Kamizuki-san. My name is Shiro-fukurō Harii. Could you point out which direction the orphanage is? I sometimes bake when I can't sleep, so someone else might as well eat the extras." Hari explained as he handed a good smelling bag over to Izumi.

"Of course I can help you. The orphanage is five blocks in that direction. These smell mouth-watering. Have you ever thought of opening a bakery?" Izumi praised.

Hari blushed as he rubbed his faded lighting bolt scar, "Yeah, but it's more work than I want to do. Maybe someday, but we'll see. I don't know how to make a lot of the local dishes."

"Oh." Izumi sighed in disappointment, "Could we at least trade recipes?"

Despite himself Hari perked up, "Really? I'd like that. I tried the daifuku sweets the other day and they tasted really awesome. I'd never had it before, and I'm rambling..." In the back of his mind, Hari wondered why he felt comfortable enough to relax in Izumi's presence. She was an adult, but she wasn't any taller than Hari.

"You've never had daifuku before yesterday?! What kind of sad life have you led?" Izumi cried out in dramatic horror, "We can make some right now if you want."

Hari blushed again, "That would be nice, but I need to go though." Mainly so Hari could figure out why his emotions were a mess, "I can come back in the afternoon or at another time." Hari offered.

"Of course Hari-san. Just a reminder, the orphanage is in that direction by the twisted trees." Izumi waved as he bowed and speedily left.

Troubled, Hari was easily lost in his thoughts as he tried to remember who the two Kamizuki ladies reminded him of. He was certain there was someone else in Konoha that gave off the same vibe. "Ha!" Hari snapped his fingers, "Tonks and the twins. That's who they remind me of. More so Tonks than the twins. Friendly and clumsy except less clumsy."

Emitting another wandless pulse of magic, Hari flinched as someone brushed up against him, snapping his eyes open. Scowling, as he hadn't meant to close his eyes, Hari hurried on. He paused in a shadow of a building to reassure himself that he hadn't been poisoned or robbed. (Not that Hari cared if he was robbed, because it was just a decoy pouch with only enough money for a few meals). Finding nothing, Hari sighed and hurried onward, carefully dodging anyone who looked like they were about to stumble into him.

Not too far from the outskirts of Konoha's walls, Hari finally found the orphanage. It didn't take long before a rambunctious child ran out of the building, being chased by an adult.

"Nana-nana!" The one-armed child yelled as he ran circles ahead of the woman, "You can't catch me!"

But the child hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings very well. Hari easily scooped the child off the ground, "Maybe she can't but I can, gaki."

"Let me go!" The child immediately protested, "I don't want a bath!"

Hari chuckled, "But who is going to help me deliver these loaves if you run away?" Glancing up, Hari met the woman's wary green eyes briefly before focusing on the squirming child.

Taking several big sniffs, the black haired and blue eyed child finally smelled the fresh bread, "Food? I can help?"

Hari set the boy on the ground and handed him the large bag, "Can you lift that?"

The gaki scoffed, "Off course I can! I'm going to be a nin-ja." The tiny chest of the child puffed out as he lifted the bag, tumbling backward when it was so easy to carry. Glaring suspiciously (it was more of a pout) at the bag, the boy peeked into the bag. His dark blue eyes widened immensely, "That's for us?" He asked in awe.

"Mhmm." Hari nodded, unable to hold back a smile before crouching and whispering conspiratorially, "Do you think you can accept a mission ninja-san?"

The child nodded eagerly, "Yes client-san."

Hari coughed to hide a laugh, "Can you escort these sweet loaves of bread to the kitchens?"

"Yatta! I can get them there safe and quick!" The one armed boy nearly ran off, but stopped after a couple of steps, "Client-san? I still don't want a bath."

"Well that's up to your leader isn't it? Can I ask what your name is ninja-san?"

"My name is Kaede! What is your name client-san?"

"Hari."

"Hai. Bye Hari! I'm off to fulfill my first mission. Iiiee! Maza, I'm on a mission! I've no time for baths." Kaede patiently explained as he scowled up at the woman who had been chasing him earlier. She laughed,

"Is that right? Well run swiftly to the kitchens, but you are still getting a bath." And the lady let the little boy, dragging the bag of baked goods, run back inside. She pushed her square glass up onto her nose before turning to face Hari.

Hari shifted nervously under the woman's thoughtful gaze, which was more humored than wary now, even if her stare was still piercing. When it came to monsters such as Voldemort or scars, Hari didn't even bat an eye. And yet, when it came to certain adults, particularly motherly nurses Hari wanted to flee before they could smother him. (Translate: Keep him tied to a hospital bed). And there was most definitely a medical symbol on her uniform. Why was he running into so many medic-nins today?

"You're thin squirt." She eventually pointed out bluntly, "Can you afford to give so much food away?"

Hari nodded, "I don't eat much and I bake or meditate when I can't sleep."

She blinked, accepting his answer, although she seemed to know there was more to it than that, "Name's Yakushi Nonō. I help run this orphanage."

"Shiro-fukurō Harii." he bowed and wondered what he was going to do next. He no longer had the bread to deliver, it was approaching mid-day and Hari wasn't ready to go home just yet.

"Hn, do you know how to hold a baby?"

Hari blinked, "A baby?" Besides normal primary school, Hari couldn't recall ever being near even a toddler before. Fleur had been pregnant, but Hari had left before Bill's daughter was born. Hari knew how to take care of himself and had also done most if not all of the work for the Dursleys, but he had never taken care of anyone younger than himself. (The younger Hogwarts students didn't really count as he had just been teaching them ho to survive a fight, and none of them had been younger than the starting age of 9.) Hari shook his head, but intrigued, asked, "I don't, but are you saying you'd let me?"

"You handled Kaede well enough."

"I'd like to try." At the very least Hari would gain some experience for his own family or the odd circumstance.

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Naruto scowled as he kicked a tree trunk. Once again he had been kicked out of class. He hadn't even pranked anyone or spoken out of turn! It wasn't his fault... okay it was partially, but it was not entirely his fault that he hadn't been listening well enough to answer an unknown question. Not that Naruto really cared for school, but the teacher was probably going over the interesting or useful parts of whatever lesson it had been that day. It might have been something to graduate the exam. Well, Naruto would show the teacher up by graduating! At least Iruka-sensei wouldn't send him out of the class for not answering a question, even if he did dislike the yellow-haired orange 'monster'. Not that Naruto had ever heard Iruka-sensei call him a 'monster' or other similar term. But he probably thought it, because all the other teachers had said it at least once.

His shoulders slumped as Naruto stopped injuring the tree and he raced off toward one of his hideouts. It was a crawl space in between some large roots that Naruto had dug out, with a couple of growing bushes to hide the entrance. It was one of his favorite hideouts, mainly because he had made it himself. Alone and hidden, Naruto curled up into his lone blanket that marked this hideout his. Unclenching his hand (had he really been holding onto the white bag for so long and so tightly?), the white bag he had been handed earlier plopped down. Quietly, Naruto opened the bag and gaped as a mouth-watering scent filled his secret den. Despite it being however long since Hari had given it to him, the bread was still warm and soft. Fortunately it also hadn't become squashed or crumbled. Immediately, his hand darted out and grabbed the first loaf. He wolfed it down, relishing how sweet and creamy the baked goods tasted. Not that it would ever be better than ramen, but it was good too. Before long, Naruto only had one loaf left, which was awesome because he didn't have any money leftover from paying the landlord the other day. Reluctantly, Naruto decided to wait to eat the last sweet bread, because while the people at the ramen stand would let him pay another day if he didn't have enough money, it might not be enough to stave off hunger later.

Naruto felt dazed as he replayed this morning's events, fiddling with the white bag. Someone, not including the Hokage or the rare jounin, had not only given him some kind of sweet bread that wasn't poisoned (he hadn't had a stomachache after all), but had greeted him and wished him well. Naruto found himself wondering how Hari responded to his reputation or would if he hadn't already. It was a gut feeling, but Naruto had the impression that Hari would... understand his life, understand Naruto! That is, if Naruto interpreted his instinct right. Maybe there was hope for a friend after all. Underneath that hope was a more selfish hope guarding his stomach. On the unlikely chance Hari became his friend, maybe Hari would give him more food.


	3. Chapter 3: Building Friendships

Chapter 3: Building Friendships

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Naruto

Authors Notes: Please tell me if my characterizations need any improvement.

Harry Potter does become Naruto's adopted older brother. Hinata is the one who eventually marries Naruto. (Although I might not get that far in my story).

In answer to how Harry settled in to Konoha so fast: it is,

a) Harry did get paperwork from the goblins (after paying for the damage to Gringrotts/ the dragon/ and giving them Gryffindor's sword. The goblins still hold a grudge, but not to the point of draining his wealth completely. Instead they just attack passive-aggressively and avoid making short-term investments [leaving most of Harry's wealth tied up in stocks or something]),

b) it actually did take time (there were several months in-between Harry leaving England and arriving in Konoha),

c) Harry has money to circulate (in comparison to his back account in England it's on the small size- but the shinobi don't know that) that would benefit Konoha's economy

d) It's procedure to have new civilians/ foreigners watched, especially civilians interacting with Naruto (not that the ninja are always there, but it is procedure).

e) With a similar spell to a notice-me-not spell, Harry can blend in easier with a this-is-normal spell or runic array.

As for Teddy, he hadn't been born yet. Maybe in two years or so you might see him, as Remus and Tonks didn't die in the final battle. (And just because everyone is two years younger than canon, doesn't mean that they get married at 15. So some events are closer to canon timeline than others.)

The move to the Elemental Continent is basically permanent one. The portal for people from Gringotts is difficult to open (and consequently, costly) and can only be opened in England as the portal opener in Fire Country had been destroyed. On the other hand, mail/non-living items can be teleported through dimensions with a special box on both sides.

Explaining why Naruto's apartment building is basically empty: (besides avoiding Naruto), the apartments were overpriced poor quality. There had been a couple of older civilians that had lived on a lower floor, but they had passed away by the time Hari moved in.

About a week before Hari moved in, an few angry people had caught up to Naruto, which is one of the reason why Naruto is being so cautious about Hari.

Hari doesn't know that the orphanage kicked out Naruto, at least not yet.

Any non-native plants/foods to Japan/surrounding area is creative license. (Although, I do try to make it accurate).

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Hari hummed the Hogwarts theme song as he unlocked his apartment door. The sun had set while he was at the orphanage, making it difficult to get back home quickly in the dark. Before he opened his door, Hari released a pulse of magic, this time to look for any harmful traps or spying devices. Finding none, Hari swiftly cleaned the few things that needed a quick dust off. Tossing his shoes off, Hari went to go take a shower. When the water turned warm to frigid, Hari irritably hit the pipes with a 'reparo', unaware that he overpowered the spell and fixed all the pipes in the building. Hari flopped onto his low, but comfortable mattress and instantly fell asleep.

Hari awoke panting, tears painting his pillow blue, screams silenced by habit (not magic) and feeling sea-worthy nauseous. His memories of playing at the orphanage had mixed with one of Snape's worst memories as a Death Eater, creating a terrifying nightmare. (Hari suspected that Snape hadn't intended on sharing certain memories, but Severus had been so close to death when he gave Hari so many memories of his work as a spy and teacher. Unlike Dumbledore, the Head of Slytherin truly had tried to save as many children as he could, even if everyone didn't realize what he had done and kept hated him for it.) Hari stumbled to the bathroom and threw up, taking a cold shower to wake up. The thin carpet rug was hit with a color charm, changing from Gryffindor red to a royal blue. Red was too loud, too bloody of a color to stay in his house.

Still pale, but now dressed in new night clothes, Hari turned on a music box. It had recorded sounds from nature, mainly different waterfalls. Tuning his thoughts to the sounds, Hari focused only on breathing as he flowed through the movements of a particularly rigorous exercise, a few steps faster and more fluid than Hari's normal yoga routine. It was worth collapsing into a pile of twitching, trembling muscles several hours later in order to forget his nightmares.

Groaning, Hari eventually able to crawl to his feet. Swaying unsteadily as he walked, Hari headed into his kitchen. He heated up a tea kettle with water, pulling out the ingredients for hot chocolate. While waiting for the water to boil, Hari opened the window, listening to the sounds of Konoha at night. Spotting a spiderweb in the eves of the roof, Hari got an idea. Hari left the window ajar as he walked to a drawer full of paper. He managed to sketch the spiderweb, labeling it 'Dreamcatcher' before the kettle steam whistled.

Sitting on his dining floor, Hari sipped the creamy hot chocolate as he sketched out basic ideas, crumbling rejected or ruined runic arrays. Frowning, Hari got up to close the window, activating a subtle rune that would deter anyone from noticing anything amiss. Pulling a tiny box off a hidden necklace, Hari enlarged the chest that contained his library from England and dug out his most prized collection of runic journals and a couple of books on runic theory. Flipping through pages, Hari smirked as he found that there already was a basic pattern designed for monitoring children's dreams. Building off of the basic array, Hari began to adapt it for his own needs.

Sometime later, Hari started as a grumbling noise distracted him from his work. He accidentally ruined the design he had been working on. Hari made a face as he realized how hungry he was. He didn't want to give his project up now! He was on an innovative streak. Hari sighed, running a hand through his hair as he stood up. Green eyes scanned the mostly empty fridge. He diced up the green onions and remaining vegetables to combine with whipped egg/milk mixture. A fourth of it created a pancake sized omelet. Hari was surprised he managed to finish eating it, making a mental note to buy more eggs. As he sat down to continue working on his project, there was a knock on his door.

"Just a moment!" Hari called out, quickly hiding his books and notes in the top drawer of his magical chest, shrinking the chest and attaching it back to his necklace before running to the door. Hari anxiously wiped his hands even as he opened the door. He blinked as he met his neighbor's blue eyes. "Good morning Naruto-san."

"Good morning Hari-san." Naruto parroted, a prankster's smile alerting Hari that something was wrong, "Why are you covered in ink?"

"Hm?" Hari's hands were mostly clean, but reaching up to his forehead, the fingers came back black, "I hadn't noticed." Hari smiled a bit sheepishly, "I was working on a project and, well, the ink blends in quite well with my hair. Come on in. Or do you need to get to school or something?"

Naruto took a deep breath, "_Thankyouforthefood,_" the yellow-haired boy quickly mumbled as he pushed a tiny baby bonsai into Hari's hands. It was potted in a reused ramen cup.

"You're welcome. ...Have you had breakfast yet?" Harry gestured for Naruto to come inside, "I actually was planning on starting a garden, thank you for the bonsai."

Naruto awkwardly shuffled inside, inching closer as he watched Hari work,

"What is that?"

"It's an omelet. What kind of vegetables do you like?" Hari asked even as he poured the omelet 'batter' into the pan.

Naruto made a face, "I don't like any vegetables."

"Well, how about this? If I can't make the vegetables taste good, I won't force you to eat it. If you really don't like it, I'll make one without veggies." Hari pulled out a plate and flipped the omelet.

"Deal." Naruto nodded in agreement.

"So, what is school like here?" Hari asked.

Naruto crinkled his nose in disgust, "I like pranking better."

Hari chuckled, unaware of how Naruto pinched himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. After all, who would be so friendly to a 'demon' or laugh light-heartedly in his presence? Unless of course they were unaware of his presence.. Even so, not many people were fond of pranksters. "Oh? My godfather and my father were fond of pranks as well. And mom got a couple over dad when he and his friends annoyed her too much. Remus told me that it was because of one of mom's pranks that I got the name I did." Hari reminisced as he dished the omelet onto a plate.

"Really? Your parents were pranksters?"

"They were. I'm not much of one, but it does seem to run in families." Hari explained as he handed the omelet over, pouring out the next one.

Silently, Naruto hoped that at least one of his parents had been a prankster too as he poked the steaming omelet. It would be nice to have a connection with his parents. "Ikadakimasu." Naruto took a testing bite before enthusiastically swallowing the rest of his omelet, a meal he hadn't had before.

Hari had been watching Naruto from the corner of his eye and hid a smile, "Were the vegetables horrible?"

"...They were okay." Naruto admitted after a moment, "But I still don't like them!"

"Noted. But they do provide the nutrients you need to get taller, which is one of the reasons I am still short. I didn't get a whole lot of food when I was younger."

Naruto reluctantly agreed that there was a benefit to vegetables, but made sure to emphasize that he still didn't like them. Hari just chuckled again and gave Naruto another vegetable laden omelet.

/

/

After Naruto left for the academy, a sack of sandwiches in hand, Hari returned to work on his dreamcatcher runic array, activating a stronger 'notice-me-not' ward as he did so. He destroyed his earlier attempts before realizing he had a trash can. Etching a more simplistic runic array designed to destroy paper (and only paper) onto the bottom of the trash can. The magic shimmered a little before fading once Hari activated it. Throwing a set of used chopsticks and a blank piece of paper into the small bin, Hari was satisfied when the paper vanished but the chopsticks did not. Returning to his dreamcatcher design, Hari made a mental note to get string and thin strips of wood while he was up and about shopping later. Transfiguration magic was strongest when it merely changed shape rather than changing material, element or size. Once Hari was satisfied with his final design for his dreamcatcher, Hari copied the design into his personal runic journal. He tucked the finished design into his pocket while hiding his library on his necklace once more. Once he took another shower to scrub off the ink, Hari deactivated the wards and made a list of everything he was out of. Even if Hari didn't eat it, others could and would.

/

At the market, Hari ran into Izumi, Hanae the medic-nin in training's mother.

"Hari-kun!" Izumi Kamizuki brightened. And before long, she was pulling Hari everywhere for the 'best prices' or the 'best deals'. Hari didn't dare mention he would have been happier if they had just gone to one store. Anyway, Izumi used the chance to instruct Hari in all of Konoha's sweets. (And made sure he ate at least one piece of each kind, to his dismay).

Hari sighed in relief as he was finally able to set his groceries down. Fortunately, he could still lighten the weight even if he couldn't shrink the packages with so many people unaware of his abilities around.

"Now after I showed you around the market, you need to show me how to make that delicious sweet bread." Izumi demanded from the kitchen. Had she really reminded him of Tonks? She was less clumsy than Tonks, yet equally demanding as Tonks, but she was as fond of sweets as Dumbledore.

'Ah hah! So there was a motive behind going from store to store!' Hari confirmed to himself before, calling back, "Coming! I'm just writing the recipe down."

"You can do that later, I want to learn how to make that sweet bread!"

"Why the rush?" Hari asked as he washed his hands. Could adults be on a sugar rush? Izumi-san certainly seemed like she was despite the fact he had been the one to eat the desserts.

"My daughter's teammate's father's teammate, oh gosh, that sounded strange. Anyway, there is this specialized jounin who has been unable to have most sweets due to a lung condition, and I thought it was a shame and I realized yesterday that the sweet bread could solve the problem."

"That's kind of you." Hari responded neutrally as he started rinsing the dirt off several large zucchinis. "Banana bread follows similar steps, and I'll write them out later, but Banana bread is best when the fruit is really ripe. The process can be speeded up by freezing them before thawing them, but that will still take several days. For zucchini bread, the zucchini needs to be shredded..."

If Izumi noticed Hari kept an eye on the entrances and exits and never turned his back to her, she was polite enough not to mention it.

/

/

A large crash and a shout from the direction of Naruto's apartments distracted Hari from finishing putting away his groceries. Slipping out of his apartment, Hari darted towards Naruto's wide open door.

"Naruto-kun!" Hari yelped as he spotted the other boy. His apartments was a mess, more so than before. Shattered glass alcohol bottles littered the room and a few bruises were already fading from Naruto's skin. Hari automatically looked for another person. Those type of bruises weren't self-inflicted.

"Hari-san?" Naruto slurred,

Hari winced, "Sounds like you have a concussion." Hari carefully made his way towards Naruto and picked the other boy off the ground. Hari steadied Naruto when he wobbled, "Who gave you those bruises?"

"The anboo took caarey of it." Naruto explained.

Hari sighed, nodding, "Does this happen often?" Naruto sluggishly shrugged as Hari opened his apartment door.

"Do you want dinner?" Hari asked as he set the younger boy down against the wall in his living room, "Hey, focus, focus. Concussions are nasty things and while it is a good thing you can recognize your surroundings... and you're asleep." Accustomed to his own concussion, Harry didn't believe in keeping people awake if they could identify their surroundings. Hari quickly retrieved a blanket and a pillow from his bedroom, trying to make Naruto more comfortable. After monitoring Naruto while finishing putting his groceries away, Hari locked his apartment up via runes while slipping back into the hallway. Scowling at Naruto's apartment, Hari rolled up his sleeves, pulled out a few garbage bags and set to work.

It would have been faster with magic, but cleaning things by hand at least made it easier to expel his frustrations. Anyway, using magic for every little thing felt wasteful.

Once all the glass and ramen cups were swept up, Hari focused on righting the few pieces of furniture and cleaning the floors. Hari took a deep breath before he entered the kitchen, turning green when he smelled the rotten milk and molding leftover slices of bread. Throwing away yet more cups of ramen, Hari decided to concur the sink first.

"Oh that's nasty." Hari grimaced as he threw the slime from the pipes away. Discretely hitting his hands with a cleaning charm and then the pipes with a stronger scourgify, he retreated to his apartment. Picking up several cans of tomato juice, checking up on Naruto (placing a monitoring charm on the whiskered blond), and re-locking the apartment once more, Hari returned to the disaster zone. He used the smaller can of tomato juice to soak out the small from the sink as he cleaned off the kitchen floors. Done with the floors, he rinsed the sink before turning his attention to the tiny faulty fridge. Even though he'd rather throw it out and get a new one, Hari reparo-ed the cooling unit and cleaned the entire inside: walls, shelves and drawers with his remaining cans of tomato juice. It was quite awesome how tomato juice could remove even the stink of a skunk. The kitchen done, but extremely empty, Hari moved onto the next room. He cleaned the bathroom, but avoided cleaning Naruto's bedroom. Naruto should at least clean his own room, even if it was with help. Finally, Naruto's apartment was as clean as it was going to get for now. It was less of a dump when it was gutted of it's trash, but the holes in the floor and the peeling paint still made it a depressing place. Turning around, Hari cringed at how bare Naruto's apartment was. At least the younger boy had a few plants, torn scrolls, and blank scrolls to call his own, but the apartment's bareness reminded Hari of his childhood cupboard. Hari shuddered and took the trash downstairs. He could have vanished it, but this was far less suspicious than pointing a neon sign at himself 'Look at me! I can do magic tricks! It's a rare bloodline that I want you to bug me about.' for his observers. They were going to figure it out sooner or later, but Hari preferred if the shinobi found out later, much later.

Returning to his apartment and unlocking the runic barrier that kept Naruto safe (the younger boy would have been able to leave, but only Hari could enter), Hari glanced over at the sleeping blond on the floor. He was slightly surprised that the bruises had already faded, but was more amazed that Naruto hadn't woken yet. Hari shrugged and hurried into the shower, scrubbing off the dirt and grime sweat-matted to his body.

/

/

/

/

Naruto sniffed, delectable smells taunting his nose. Had he fallen asleep behind a bakery again? Naruto blinked his bleary blue eyes open. Someone was eating quietly nearby, but there wasn't any of the bustling sounds that belonged to an active business.

"You took a longer time to wake than I expected, but maybe sleeping is part of how you heal fast." A voice commented. Naruto started, whipping his head around to spot his neighbor Hari. "I didn't know what you liked to eat beyond ramen, but I made a few things that you can try."

Naruto gawked at the dark-haired teenager, "How did I fall asleep here?"

"I invited you over for dinner. You had a concussion, so I let you sleep. It didn't matter as it took time to cook dinner anyway." Hari took another bite of a colorful salad, topped with a few pieces of fish.

Naruto scrambled to his feet, just realizing that he had been using a pillow and a blanket. He blinked.

"Do you mind folding the blanket and washing your hands before eating?"

Naruto numbly nodded, methodically folding the blanket into a roll. He moved to wash his hands, before he stopped, staring at the buffet.

"Is someone else coming?" Was the first thing out of the ninja-in-training's mouth.

"Nope, just you. I didn't know how much you could eat, but I won't be surprised if there are leftovers." Hari calmly answered. Naruto struggled to understand,

"You made this all? I can't, I don't know how to repay-" Naruto

Hari interrupted him, "I do. You can learn how to clean and cook something more than ramen. Your kitchen was terrifying, it was almost a toxic zone."

Naruto sputtered, "You, you cleaned my kitchen too?" He asked weakly.

"If your worried about repaying me, don't." The older boy responded flatly, "I would refuse payment anyway. There's a set of chopsticks by the empty bowl for you."

"How long was I asleep?" Naruto asked instead.

"Several hours. I would have worried, but you seemed to be doing alright." Naruto kept staring at the food while he processed Hari's words.

"Worried? Over me?" Naruto repeated in a haze of confusion.

"I'm going to worry more if you don't eat something." Hari muttered.

So Naruto reached out and picked a food, brightening when it turned out that the food was real and not being taken away and that this _wasn't a dream_.


	4. Chapter 4: A Strong Friendship Growing

Chapter 4: A Strong Friendship Growing

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Naruto

Authors Note: Hari already has some suspicions (gut-feeling) about Naruto's treatment, even knowing virtually nothing about Naruto's situation, but he'll find out more soon. I also want to make another point: Naruto isn't going to see Hari as a father figure, but rather as a brother. Despite his maturity, Hari is not only five years older than Naruto, but really isn't that much taller than Naruto either.

When Hari releases 'a pulse of magic', it's similar but more advanced than the Homenum revelio, as it reveals any people, animals, magic-ed objects and finds any items fueled/created with malicious intent. Hari only really needs his wand for delicate magic like internal healing. (However...)

On a side note, does anyone know the real (and animal) names of ANBU members?

/

/

.-.-.-.

/

/

The ANBU watchers kept a diligent watch over one Shiro-fukurō Harii, and particularly sharp eyes and ears on his interactions with Naruto codenamed Orange. At first they watched Hari simply because he moved in next to Naruto. But then Hari started building a friendship with Naruto...

Hari had the messy raven black hair of the Uchiha, but had bright too green eyes of eyes (the Uchiha's always had dark eye colors), a facial structure that was far more different than any Uchiha, and his personality wasn't like an Uchiha. The possibility was still there (until a blood test denied it), but unless Hari developed the sharingan, he probably wouldn't be claimed as one anyway. Hari was a short individual, but several years older than Orange.

On day one, the target of observation bought the apartment, holing himself up within. A Hyuuga (someone with the Byakugan) under the mask of a squirrel noted that the civilian seemed to be fixing his apartment, nothing too unusual. The place had been a dump. Inu-san idly wondered if the civilian would manage to repair it into a decent shape. Orange reentered the building for the night.

On the second day of observation, the target finally left the building around lunchtime, an aroma of sawdust and paint fading from his scent. Cat-san found it mildly amusing how quickly the civilian seemed to get lost and pretend he wasn't. The target found a local civilian willing to give him directions to the food stalls. The target successfully made his way back home with several bags of basic groceries, nearly getting run over by a speeding orange bullet. Yet the civilian brushed the incident off as if he hadn't noticed, merely blinking, shrugging and continuing hauling his groceries home.

The target's nighttime activities were interesting. After sleeping for only a few hours, the target woke up and made a bakery's worth amount of sweet bread loaves. Inu-san twitched, there were definitely downsides to having a hyper sensitive nose. And if a loaf or two went missing (he was only checking for poison!), Baker-san didn't notice.

The third day, the target made brief contact with Orange before both left for different parts of the city. Orange to the ninja academy and the target wandered about, running into Hanea Kamizuki, Izumo Kamizuki's (one of the chunin gate guards of Konoha) niece. She sat right in front of the target, who looked uncertain how to react. After a short conversation, the target rolled his eyes and helped Hanea stumble home to her mother Izumi. The target was troubled and unaware of his surroundings when another civilian bumped into him. He looked about wildly, snapping out of whatever thoughts he'd been having, looking around in caution. The ANBU shinobi then watched the target arrive at the orphanage, delivering the baked goods. The target spent the rest of the day there, under the watchful eye of Yakushi Nonō, a loyal medic-nin to Konoha. While the target wandered around, in the end heading for the orphanage, another ANBU inspected Orange's neighbor's apartment.

Under his mask, Inu-san raised an eyebrow, wondering how Baker-san fixed his apartment up so fast and made it look tasteful. If he hadn't been here before, Inu-san would have believed that it had never been run down before. Baker-san seemed to be a teenager with many odd (normal) talents, but nothing unusual (plots to kill anyone, poison, ect, that sort of thing) appeared in Inu-san's inspection of Baker-san's apartment.

Again Baker-san woke in the night. The ANBU members were disappointed that Baker-san wasn't baking and instead chose to meditate. Though he often stood upside down instead of sitting. Again, nothing seemed suspicious yet. Close to the morning hours, Orange knocked on Baker-san's door. Orange brought Baker-san a small bonsai and the two had a friendly discussion over breakfast. Inu-san was aware Orange was usually a good judge of persons and noted how relaxed Orange was becoming as a potential point for or against Baker-san (depending if he planned to betray that trust or not).

Leaving around mid-afternoon, the target was pulled after Kamizuki-chan's in a whirlwind shopping spree, before coming to an end at Kamizuki-san's house. They appeared to switch recipes, the silent watcher sparing a brief thought to be grateful that Kamizuki-san was so thoughtful to her fiance.

Orange arrived home first. The ANBU that had been following the target immediately took out the drunk civilians that attacked Orange while keeping an eye out for the target's reaction. The target expressed worry over Orange, to the point of letting Orange stay in his apartment. The target rubbed his head as he examined Orange's apartment before setting to work. The target of observation swept, cleaned, washed and amazingly managed to get Orange's toxic living zone in shape within a few hours. It had a way to go before looking as fixed up as the target's apartment, but it looked much more organized. The target took out the trash (several bags full) before going back to his own apartment. Surprisingly Orange was still asleep and remained asleep as the target displayed his cooking prowess once again.

Behind his mask, Inu-san grimaced slightly from how teary Orange got from Baker-san's genuine kindness. But Baker-san had yet to know how Orange was generally treated in this village.

/

/

.-.-.-.

/

/

"Gochisousama deshita." Naruto sighed in contentment.

Not too long after Naruto finished filling his stomach, he realized he didn't know where Hari-san was. Listening closely, Naruto cautiously approached where the other boy was breathing out gently. Naruto blinked in surprise to see Hari-san sleeping on the floor, using the same pillow and blanket Naruto had borrowed earlier. Searching his brain for his limited experience with positive human interaction, Naruto wondered what he was supposed to do. It would be rude to prank someone who didn't appear to hate him. Glancing back to the dishes that still remained uneaten, Naruto carefully placed them into the fridge as quietly as he could. Naruto stacked the dirty dishes near the sink before slipping out of Hari-san's apartment.

Opening the door to his own apartment, Naruto walked in, looked around and promptly walked back out. That wasn't his place was it? The numbers matched, so Naruto reentered. Had Hari-san really managed to clean his apartment in the time he was asleep? Everything was just so... neat. (Except for his bedroom, but that was alright. It confirmed that this really was his home). Dazed, Naruto fell onto his bed, thoughts whirling around until he fell asleep again.

/

Naruto woke earlier than he anticipated. He peeked out of his bedroom and blinked. Why was his apartment so clean again? Reviewing the events prior to going to sleep, Naruto remembered Hari-san had told him that he had cleaned up his apartment. It was still so strange. Not paying any attention to the time, Naruto left and loudly knocked on Hari-san's door.

"Naruto-kun?" Hari-san yawned, "Was there something you needed?"

In all actuality, Naruto wasn't sure what he was there for. He had just acted without thinking, "Thank you. I wanted to say it before, but you were asleep- did I wake you up? Sorry, I just woke up and came over here..." The yellow-haired whiskered boy rambled, "...and you said that I could repay you by learning how to cook and clean only I don't know how to cook or clean, but you obviously do, so could you teach me?"

"Breathe Naruto-kun. And sure I can teach you how to cook and clean, but do you really want to do that at two am in the morning?"

Naruto blinked, sheepishly rubbing his head, "Is it really that late? Did I wake you up?"

"I don't normally sleep more than a few hours at a time." Hari-san shrugged, "But most people sleep in until at least six am. Come on in."

"So... my dishes are all clean. Thanks for putting the left overs away. So cooking for beginners starts with understanding a recipe and all the different types of measurement." Hari pulled out a clean sheet of paper and wrote all the different kinds of measurements, "We're not going to cook anything until you understand this." Harry pulled out all his cooking measurement tools, a tray, a bowl and a large sack of flour. Finding out Naruto had very little experience in math, Hari gave a few impromptu lessons. Not that Naruto realized he was learning math. It was much more hands-on and interesting than a lecture from the academy.

Naruto's first cooking lesson lasted until breakfast. By then, Hari allowed Naruto to participate in making pancakes, instructing the interested boy how to make pancakes perfectly golden. Hari stepped back and allowed Naruto to make a few mistakes as he flipped the pancakes. In the end, some pancakes weren't edible, the boys were covered in flour, but Naruto looked very pleased as he ate his own creations.

/

/

Once the ANBU giving their report left the room, the Hokage let a small smile show. Of course he'd have to talk with this Hari himself and make sure he wasn't a spy, but from the reports from the ANBU and the people Shiro-fukurō Harii had been interacting with, the boy certainly seemed sincere. And Naruto certainly needed someone to look out for him. Old men and ANBU could only do so much.

/

/

Kicked out of the academy once again, Naruto stormed away to a private spot where he could work on his 'special jutsu'. He'd show them. He'd become Hokage and then everyone would like him!

/

/

"Hari! Hari! I figured out how to do a pervert knock-out jutsu!" Naruto barged in.

"Oh?" Hari asked calmly in his distraction. He was inspecting his newly made dreamcatcher, imbued with magic. Creating the runes with the string had been the hardest part. Among his first attempts, he had done one rune per layer, but it wasn't as strong as the connected runes on his design. Another attempt had transfigured or combined the string into the wood surrounding it, creating a wood only web. At least it could be used as a cup's coaster Another (where Hari had been thinking too much about where his idea for a dreamcatcher came from) turned the string into the thin string of an actual spider's web.

"Yeah. Watch this!" Naruto shouted. Hari glanced up as Naruto shouted, "Oiroke no Jutsu!"

As the smoke faded, Hari turned bright red, coughed, and averted his eyes in embarrassment, "Could you put some clothes on, please?"

"Hold on." There was some muttering and a 'poof', "I figured out how to henge clothes on!" Naruto cheered.

Hari was almost grateful for the orange jumpsuit (almost, because the orange was still an eye-watering shade) now, as he turned back to Naruto, "That's a jutsu? What is a jutsu anyway?"

"You bet it is a jutsu dattabyo! And a jutsu is a jutsu. -What are you working on?" Naruto released his special jutsu.

"A dreamcatcher. If I've done this right, then I'll have less nightmares."

"Nightmares? What about?" Naruto asked in callous curiosity. Not that Naruto meant to be insensitive, but Hari didn't really want to talk about it.

Hari winced, "...many things," he mumbled, "please don't ask."

"Okay, can I ask how you make one?"

"...not at this time. What do you learn at your school?"

"Stuff about being a ninja." Naruto scowled, "It's just the boring stuff."

"Well, the boring stuff can help save you."

"Save me? How can history about dead people and math help me be to be a better shinobi?" Naruto protested, "I just need to make a clone to pass the exam."

"A clone?" Hari asked in confusion.

"Yeah, but mine look... wilted." Naruto made the hand signs for the bushin, scowling at the five creations of chakra. Hari knelt and poked the created clone in fascination. It looked terrible. Pushing on it's skin felt like you were inserting your hand into jello.

"Gah-!" Hari yelped as the clone puffed into a pile of smoke, coughing as Naruto rolled on the floor laughing, "Haha. I've never seen one before." Hari defended himself.

"Still- You jumped!" Naruto guffawed.

Hari rolled his eyes, "Yes, I jumped. Move on please. Back to your previous question, history can tell us about what tactics and mistakes that we want to prevent. Math is a basic building block. It helps you take inventory, keep track of your monetary resources and is even part of cooking."

"What's monetary resources?"

"Money."

"Why didn't you say that in the first place?" Naruto asked.

Hari shrugged, "It sounds cooler." There was more to it than that, but maybe a simple reason would be accepted sooner by Naruto. "Anyway older people sometimes use fancier language to confuse kids. Understand the fancier words and it's less likely you'll be tricked."

Naruto shrugged in disintrest, "Okay, so what does math have to do with cooking?"

"Fractions, parts of a whole, are a type of math. When we were cooking, there were a lot of fractions and a little bit of reading involved."

Naruto made a face, "I don't like to read, I prefer to do something... like pranks! And cooking was much more intresting than a math lecture."

"And what if I had a few tricks to make reading interesting? I'm not much of a reading person. I'm just doing a bit of research currently. For me as a teacher, even pranks have their turn in a good history lesson."

"So tell me!" Naruto whined

Hari laughed, "I don't know any of Konoha's history or the history of the elemental continent. My home before this village was located on an island and they distorted their own history and completely neglected writing anything about places beyond Britain. It's a hidden place where there are no ninja, but there is plenty of trouble."

"No ninja?" Naruto gaped,

"None." Hari confirmed, "So I need your help if you want my help passing your exams. There's got to be some paper portion. To start off with, I could repair and clean up your scrolls. But in exchange you need to go to the library and get me the same basic scrolls plus some on chakra basics. Some of your scrolls might be too damaged to repair and I need to know if I am repairing them correctly."

"They'll just throw me out!"

"...Did you tear apart one of their scrolls or defile the library?"

"...No...?" Hari lifted an eyebrow. Why would librarians stop someone from learning? Let alone throw them out? Hari thought of Irma Pince and winced, well there were possibilities...

"Did you insult their livelihood? Did you annoy aka prank the librarians outside of the library? Or try and learn something illegal?"

"...Maybe?" Naruto answered, thinking of his pink-haired classmate's mother. Shuddering, Naruto noticed Hari had come up with an idea.

Believing the librarians had thrown Naruto out of the library for being prank happy, Hari suggested, "Why don't you try going as someone else?"

"How?" Naruto asked in bewilderment.

"Use your specialized henge. _With clothes on_." Harry emphasized, "And act like one of your classmates, so they can't figure out that it was you. That means no orange jumpsuit or loud shouting- unless you're acting like a fan girl or something; in which case you might be thrown out anyway. Try acting like someone worried about the tests; as long as you aren't cutting it too close, they'll give you something helpful to read. Also... can you change your hair color? It's too memorable if it is yellow. Try a light orange even."

"An orange hair jutsu!" Naruto beamed in delight, running off, "Great idea Hari!"

"Don't forget the scrolls from the library! And be polite!" Hari hollered back. Hm... well he needed to hang this dream-catcher up above his bed. He'd find out if it worked tonight. In the meantime, he could make treats for the orphanage.

/

/

.-.-.-.

/

/

The librarian eyed the orange haired girl suspiciously. She was still there, looking lost. Michi Kiku made her steps swift and silent as she snuck up on the out-of place child. Clearing her throat, she was rewarded by a shriek of surprise. Suppressing her amusement, she scowled,

"Loud noises are for outside the library gaki."

The girl rubbed her hair in nervousness, "Sorry, sorry. I'm a bit lost at where to look. I'm an academy student you see, from a... civilian family. I misplaced my scrolls and I've never been here before. My sensei said that I need the basic scrolls about Konoha's history, jutsus, and... something else. And that I need to copy the information from a library scroll as punishment. And then I asked a ninja if I could learn a jutsu from them and they said to look for... I think it was called chakra something scroll?"

"That's a lot of scrolls." Michi Kiku commented blandly.

"I know, Librarian-sama." The girl looked down gloomily.

"It's Michi Kiku. Just call me Michi-san." Kiku eyed the child thoughtfully, "I'll let you check out five today." Kiku's hand snaked out and grabbed the girl's wrist and dragged the orange-haired academy student along. "But first, you need to show me your handwriting."

"My handwriting?" The girl crinkled her nose in confusion.

"Well if you are going to be copying that many scrolls, your results should be legible." Kiku explained, handing the as yet unnamed girl a paper and pencil.

"...What should I write?" The girl asked nervously,

"How about your name?" Michi-san asked.

The girl froze up.

"Is something wrong?"

"N-no. Just don't laugh." The girl blushed in embarrassment, once again rubbing her head full of orange strands.

"I won't." Michi-san promised.

In very sloppy lettering, the child wrote, "Shiro Daidairo."

As promised Kiku didn't laugh. _'You poor child. Although White Orange does sound pretty.'_ Michi Kiku thought. "Did you have orange hair when you were born?" Michi-san asked in curiosity.

Orange-chan shuffled awkwardly, "I wouldn't know. I-I'm an orphan."

"Well you are definitely going to need a scroll on improving your hand writing. You can buy practice paper at the calligraphy store. In fact, I can get off shift and I'll direct you there."

"Wha? Oh no, I wouldn't want to take up your time."

"I insist." Kiku decided a short break would do her some good before she annoyed the other librarians.

Orange-chan looked like she swallowed an additional protest as she gave a resigned nod, "Hai, Michi-san."

/

/

.-.-.-.

/

/

"Michi-san? I am paid through the orphan fund, but I don't know if I have enough to cover everything. I know I could pay for half, but everything seems so expensive!" Orange-chan scuffed her foot on the floor. Underneath the disguise, Naruto plotted on how to get revenge on Hari. An idea came to him as he took another glance at the practice paper. No kid seemed to like handwriting, so...

Michi-san seemed to know what he was asking and nodded, "Since it was my idea, I will pay for the other half of the cost. But you have to show me the improvements in your writing every time you come into the library. Naruto internally winced, now he _had_ to improve his handwriting, "Hai Michi-san. Michi-san?"

"Hai Orange-chan?"

"I'm not much of a book learner. But my best friend promised to help me!" Orange replied, "But his handwriting is much worse than mine! Could I buy extra calligraphy paper for him?" This was so much more work than Naruto had anticipated. Work to change his transformation jutsu, work to find the scrolls and work at not being exposed as Naruto.

"Certainly. What is your friend's name?" the off duty librarian asked pleasantly.

"Hari."

/

/

.-.-.-.

/

/

"Hari-san! I got you a present!" Naruto barged into Hari's apartment for the second time that day. If this became a habit, Hari would have to make sure he only did his runic experiments in his bedroom.

"A present?" Hari asked, green eyes revealing his confusion.

"Yep." Naruto sang as he shoved the package into Hari's arms.

Hari blinked, looking between the present and Naruto in suspicion before opening the present cautiously, "Paper?"

"Call-i-graph-phy paper. I couldn't get out of getting it, so I thought you might use it with me."

A wide smirk grew on Hari's face, "Thanks. But your prank failed, because I actually _wanted_ some of this paper. I just didn't know where to find it yet."

Naruto stared at Hari in disbelief, "I thought you said you weren't a book person."

"I'm not. But there is a certain subject that I find pleasantly entertaining that requires better handwriting."

"What? Like write letters?" Naruto snorted.

"Something like that." Hari smirked, "You need to learn the basics first. For me that meant improving my writing skills. I was close to being blind when I was your age and my handwriting was horrendous because of that."

As the latter half of Hari's response went over his head, Naruto whined, conflicted to feel disappointed at his prank's failure and surprised/ happy that Hari liked his gift, "But letters?"

"You'll see. It might seem pointless now, but it will make sense later. Are you ready for another cooking lesson?"

"Hai." Naruto stomach grumbled,

"I don't mind if you eat first." Hari gestured to the fridge. Hari opened the scroll on history of chakra to start off with.

/

/

.-.-.-.

/

/

Jutsu were not simply jutsu as Naruto had earlier stated. Hari read off of his completed notes- aka the short homework assignment for after the lesson. Jutsu's were divided into three categories: taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu. The first two types relied more on a person's physical chakra, while the third relied more on a person's spiritual energy. His informative notes on kekkei genkai or bloodline abilities (inherited traits for certain techniques) would have to be homework for Naruto on another day.

The first category, taijutsu could be simplified to hand-to-hand combat. Ninjutsu were like spells, but relied on two sources of energy rather than just spiritual energy. Genjutsu were illusions, only detected differently. Genjutsu tended to be targeted on an opponent while illusions were more to hide and deceive something. In a way illusions (or spells) could combine with runes to make wards. It made Hari wonder if there was anything like runes in this ninja world that could also make 'wards'.

There had been moments while Hari had been sitting that he wondered why he was helping Naruto in the first place. Was it just because he wanted a distraction? In a way, Hari had to admit the answer was yes. Yet the younger boy, within a matter of hours, hand managed to find a space in Hari's heart. Hari hadn't wanted to get attached and yet he had. It was his own fault and because of that, it was Hari's self-appointed responsibility to teach the boy. Hari frowned, why had someone tried to attack Naruto the day before? Would he made such an effort (did he still have his people-saving thing?) to reach out to Naruto if the attack hadn't occurred? Maybe, but Hari wasn't certain that he would have ended up teaching Naruto how to cook let alone with the blonde's schoolwork. Well what was done was done. Hari enjoyed being a teacher more than he thought he would.


	5. Chapter 5: The Hokage's Interrogation

Chapter 5: The Hokage's Interrogation

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Naruto

Author's note: Thank you for the reviews. Please keep up with the constructive feedback; it really helps ideas flow better.

To clarify about a question: Harry didn't buy the building or become the landlord. He bought an apartment. Anything he fixes up is mostly for his own benefit. (This is a Harry who was a Slytherin in Gryffindor). Fixing up his own apartment gives Harry a) a better apartment and b) a chance to make 'modifications'. He wouldn't be able to do that with an already refurbished apartment. Strengthening the basement means that natural disasters (or attacks) aren't going bring down the building that easily. (It was also a basic protection step. After having done the runic array in the basement, it would be easier to add wards (which require a warding stone or something to tie the wards to) or other runic layers. Hari inspected the other apartments to have an idea of who was living where.

Naruto is renting his apartment, but even if he owned it (like Hari), he'd still be charged for running water, the use of heating fuel, ect. 'Buying' the apartment is more expensive to the point that it is not normally offered, but it gives Hari an excuse to interact with the landlord less. In other words, just because you bought a house doesn't always mean you own the land it is built on.

Another answer to a question: I will be threading in the backstory eventually, but I haven't needed/wanted to yet. I do intend on finishing this story, but it is a work in progress and most of my stories often begin having 'backstory' before I actually write it into the story. I just wanted to give some explanation of my character's reasoning's/actions beforehand.

Just a warning, I will be going on Hiatus soon for a year and a half. I am going on a church missionary mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

/

/

/

/

"Hari, Hari!" Naruto's habitual greeting would probably have busted the door by now if it hadn't been reinforced by hidden runes.

"Back already? Come to think of it, either your school is really inconsistent or you've been skipping." Fortunately Hari had only been working on on his handwriting, nothing out of place for the 'civilian'. Only once he had mastered Japanese calligraphy, Hari wanted to experiment with his runes and discovering if writing runes with an alternative method would have any effect. Inwardly, Hari was once again thankful for his corrected eyesight. Otherwise his handwriting would have been as sloppy as it had been when he was an nine year old.

"I've not been skipping!" Naruto protested in alarm,

"But your teachers must be able to teach more than I!" Hari protested, "After all, they are shinobi and I am not."

"But you act more like a shinobi than they do!" Naruto argued,

"How- what do you mean?" Hari eyed Naruto warily,

"You don't care that I'm 'Uzumaki Naruto'. You just treat me like a neighbor or a friend!"

"I don't see how that makes me a better shinobi." Hari pointed out.

"If they really wanted more people as shinobi, the 'shinobi' teachers would make lessons more interesting like you do. You make it real and I can understand it!"

"Naruto-kun!" Hari sighed in exasperation, rubbing his forehead, "I'm hardly the person to endorse school attendance, but how are you going to know what your teachers are going to test you on in order to pass? And yes, just because they are shinobi doesn't mean that are good teachers, but wouldn't you learn more about being a shinobi from a shinobi?"

"It's the same test every time in order to graduate!" Naruto shouted after fumbling a bit for an answer.

"Really? That sounds... what's the word? Lacking... like they are preparing battle fodder. Or seeing who goes above 'average' and learn on their own." Hari made a disgusted face.

"Battle fodder?" Naruto

"Live shields or dead people walking in other words. It took me learning on my own, almost always in secret if I wanted to survive. Oftentimes, teachers forget or ignore what the real world is like. In later years of my schooling, I was the reason several of my classmates lived long enough to pass the tests."

"What you mean by that?"

Uncomfortable, Hari focused on his baby bonsai, pinching off old leaves, "My... mother's relatives were not... kind. But they pretended to be and other people, including my teachers, inadvertently or purposely thwarted my attempts to run away. "

"Why would family or people do that?" Naruto interrupted, innocently horrified.

"Make no mistake Naruto, my mother's relatives were not family. My family was made of people who were not related directly through blood. Some of them were related distantly on my father's side of my heritage, but most were not. I made ...arrangements should anyone of the future generation of my family be without guardians that I would be contacted." Hari rubbed his faded scar, "As for why people would do that... control and money. One reason was, that by sending me to my relatives, they would have an easier time taking my father's fortune through my... ignorance."

"Oh. But what about your classmates? What do you mean survive to take the tests?" Naruto inquired.

Hari grimaced, "I mainly taught them simple things like how to duck and dodge. My... village was so far from being ninja that you were supposed to let people kill you rather than attack back!" Hari seethed, but his anger was still at manageable levels. Hari took a deep breath, deflating, "It's a sore point. I don't like manufactured martyrs."

"Does it have something to do with you moving to Konoha?" Naruto asked in an enlightened moment of brilliance. Naruto didn't know what manufacture meant or what a martyr was, but he could ask Jiji later.

"...Kind of. As soon as I passed the exams, I moved out. Thing is, people still didn't consider me to be an adult, even though I had gone through several channels to do so. They tried to 'convince' me to go back and live with my relatives." Hari shuddered, "There was no chance I was staying after that." Suddenly remembering his distant watchers, Hari wondered if the ANBU had a way of hearing their conversation. He hoped not, while wondering if his runes were strong enough to override 'listening devices'. "We've gotten off topic. Are you skipping school or not?"

"...only sometimes." Naruto finally admitted.

Hari sighed, "Well at least you are being honest. If this is the way things are going to go, I guess I can help. If you can pass your exams, despite skipping school and learning mainly independent living skills from me instead... well you won't be in the academy anymore." Hari grinned wryly, "But if you don't pass, you will have to attend school next year and you can't skip. Remember, I don't know any more about jutsu's or chakra than you do."

"But with the library scrolls, you do!"

Hari was quite for a moment before eying the pile of scrolls on the table, "...Time for a fancy handwriting lesson then."

Naruto made a face, groaning loudly, but sat down and followed Hari's instructions.

/

/

Hari had a theory. The longer Naruto forced himself to sit still, the more energy he had later. (Or maybe it was sugary leftovers). Proof in point... after the lesson in calligraphy, Naruto was...

Hari rubbed his forehead, closing his eyes in a slight sigh of frustration, "Naruto..."

"WhatHari?WhatHari?WhatHari?" The other boy was literally bouncing off the walls.

"Naruto-kun?" Hari drawled in the same manner that Professor Snape used to use, drawing on hidden sources of patience, "Perhaps you should go prank someone."

"Really?Really?Really?!"

"Yes. As long as the prank is harmless and reversible, I have no problem with it."

"Okay! I'vegotagoodidea- bye!" And Naruto flew out of Hari's apartment.

/

/

Naruto came back from his 10 laps within Konoha, having successfully pranked and escaped the ANBU, "Hari! Hari? What are you doing?"

"Meditating." Hari's lips barely moved as he took up another position. His bright green eyes were closed; Hari was more relaxed than Naruto had ever seen him.

"But... you're moving. That can't be meditating!"

Hari chuckled softly, "Not all meditating is sitting to focus your energy. This... well, it's soothing."

"It kinda looks like taijutsu." Naruto noted after a while.

"It could be, but yoga focuses on strengthening your muscles and your mind at the same time. It's slower than taijutsu, but you could put katas into yoga."

"Teach me! Teach me!"

Hari opened his eyes, not retracting from his position, "Are you sure Naruto?"

"Yatta! I want to learn."

Naruto felt like he was being soul searched as Hari's brilliantly green eyes inspected his own blue eyes. Hari blinked, releasing Naruto from the feeling, as Hari pulled himself out of his yoga position, "Alright, but tone down your volume. I see you, you don't need to shout to keep my attention."

Now it was Naruto's turn to blink, stunned. He really did have Hari's attention, "Thank you." The bright orange dressed boy whispered.

Hari nodded at him, "Ok, so first you're legs need to be positioned like this. And you slowly stretch your arms up... keep them there as long as you can," Hari mirrored the position. "Breathe in... breathe out... breathe out..."

"This is harder than I thought, nii-san." Naruto grunted after several minutes, his muscles beginning to tremble.

Hari smiled, "Most things that are worth it are...otouto. Don't worry, it gets easier as you do it more often. Now, as slow as you can, release your arms to your sides. Reposition your legs and repeat. Breathe in and breathe out..."

/

/

Later after Naruto had collapsed into a twitching pile of limbs...

"What do you want for dinner then?" Hari asked as he rummaged through his cupboards.

"Ramen, ramen, ramen!" Naruto chanted, hissing as his muscles cramped up.

"Why do you go so crazy over ramen? I mean I've seen all your cups of ramen, but I've never had it before. It's just cheap noodles, isn't it?" Naruto gaped behind Hari, unable to speak. Hari glanced back and wondered if it was a bad thing to be feeling nervous or more accurately, feeling a shiver of impending doom encroaching upon his shadow as a maniacal glint lit up in Naruto's eyes. Maybe he shouldn't have said that.

"You've never had ramen?!" The yellow-haired whiskered academy student sputtered. "Never had ramen! We need to go get some from Ichiraku's right now!" Naruto shouted, suddenly recovered from hours of beginner's yoga, forcefully pulling Hari into a run after him.

"Naruto! Not so fast!" Hari managed to grab his coat and close the door on their speedy way out of his apartment, down the several flights of stairs, through twisted city crowded streets to a food stand labeled Ramen Ichiraku.

"Five extra large miso ramen, Teuchi. Hari-nii has never had ramen before!" Naruto demandeded before turning to Hari, "Hari this is Teuchi. Teuchi this is my neighbor, Hari-nii. Ayame-chan is over there."

"Pleasure to meet someone Naruto holds in high regard." Hari bowed before speaking, "If I'm paying for you, then there needs to be vegetables in at least half of your bowls." Hari informed Naruto, who made a ineffective disappointed pout at him, even as Hari handed a large amount of money over to Teuchi, the shop owner, "One small miso ramen please. And I'm paying for the hollow leg over there."

/

"This is a small?" Hari raised an eyebrow, glancing between the extra large bowls Naruto was stacking up and the miniscule difference in bowl in front of him. The difference was in the plants that were painted on the outside of the bowl.

"I'll only charge you for a small Hari-san. Eat up." Teuchi-san smirked as he walked away to dish more ramen up for Naruto.

"Nii-san, you should eat more. You eat like a bite and then you are done." Naruto complained while he was devouring his fifth bowl.

Hari twitched, "Don't speak while you have food in your mouth. Your precious ramen would fall out or you'll choke on it." Hearing that, Naruto hastily closed his mouth. "And I ate more than a bite." Hari added.

This time Naruto finished his sixth bowl in a few seconds, inhaling noodle and broth, remembering to swallow before speaking, "Only three bites! Teuchi-san and Ayame-chan said growing boys needed food! And how can you not like Ramen!?"

"Hey! I just have a small stomach. Besides, everything, even my own food, tastes like ash or nothing after a few bites." Hari scowled defensively as he took another bite off of his chopsticks.

"Even if it is just a few bites, how often do you eat?" A girl, presumably Ayame-chan was frowning. Hari eyed her warily,_ 'please don't be a medic-nin'_ he thought before admitting quietly,

"Usually three or four times a day."

Ayame wasn't scandalized, but her father was, "You should eat more!" Teuchi exclaimed.

"I drink lots of fluids! I'm not in any danger of dehydration!" Hari protested.

"But what about starvation? It's not good to starve yourself." Teuchi scolded.

Hari flushed, "I'm not starving myself." He immediately denied, "I'm just eating the amount of food I can handle."

"If your body can't handle too much food, you should eat small amounts more often." Teuchi-san lectured and Hari found himself liking the ramen family despite or perhaps because of that.

"No promises. I forget to eat sometimes." Hari waved Teuchi-san's concern off.

"That's bad for your health!"

Hari gave a strangled laugh, "Malnutrition hasn't killed me yet." _'But Riddle has... twice.'_

"It might if you only eat less than a quarter of the bowl. There's more in one of my small bowls." Teuchi stared at Hari skeptically, before relenting, "Well you should drop by sometime so that we know that you are still alive."

"I might do that." Hari nodded in agreement, glad they weren't shipping him off to the healers. Waiting for Naruto to finish his increasing number of bowls, Hari mused on past acquaintances, idly remarking, "You know Naruto, you kind of remind me of my best friends. Hermione for her eagerness to learn, well not as terrifying- you could make a scroll the size of an adult with miniscule words and I still couldn't tell you how much she reads scares me, and Ron for your blunt words and black hole of a stomach."

"How's reading scary?" Ayame-chan asked in amusement.

"Hermione has several times pulled out reading material as tall as my arm and called it 'light reading'. She basically has eaten libraries of knowledge." Hari replied. Ayame-chan and Naruto both paled, double checking the length of Hari's arm. Hari continued, "Most people thought she was a renegade Ravenclaw, but she really was a true Gryffindor. Those are the names of certain groups of people in the school I attended and most people didn't look beyond the stereotypes."

"Stereotypes?" Naruto asked after he finished his fifteenth bowl.

"Certain actions or appearance that make people classify a person into certain categories. Those categories of behaviors are called stereotypes." Hari paused, "Remus and Hermione must have rubbed off on me more than I thought. That sounded so... textbookish or I this case dictionary-ish."

As soon as Naruto had finished his large meal and thanked Teuchi, the cheerful boy hopped off his stool and grasped Hari's hand, "Come on, you should meet Jiji!"

"Who is Jiji?" Hari inquired as they went on a speedy walk (or rather Naruto was on a speedy walking, dragging Hari along).

"You'll see!" Naruto snickered

/

/

.-.-.-.

/

/

Hidden behind his enemy, the accursed paperwork, Sarutobi Hiruzen the third Hokage of Konoha stared into a crystal ball. It was a gift from the Fourth Hokage back when Namikaze Minato was simply Jiraiya's student, before he had become the famous (or infamous) Yellow Flash with a standing 'flee on sight' order. The crystal ball had been scarred with an assassin's stray kunai and fixed up by Jiraiya, Hiruzen's student. As such, J had also 'fixed' the seals that had prevented the Hokage from seeing any indecent images.

Having been informed by the ANBU was one thing, reading the reports were another, but actually seeing it was a marvel in of itself. Naruto had left the academy early again, but not to plan another prank. Oh no, it was much more unusual than that. Naruto had gone home... well not exactly home as he had entered (with his unique flare) into his neighbor's apartment, but Naruto had sat down for a _calligraphy_ lesson. The hyperactive class clown was patiently copying letters out of a _calligraphy_ guide.

The first time the third Hokage had recognized that Hari-san was teaching a math lesson to Naruto amid a cooking lesson (was it really just a day or so ago?), he watched with the ninja version of wide eyes as Naruto absorbed the conversation and _understood _both lessons, he had thought Hari-san was a great teacher.

This morning, as the older boy sat next to Naruto, Hari-san wrote a list of teaching notes for Naruto in romanji. (Slightly odd as not many people bothered to use it). Having watched Hari-san's ability to teach Naruto numbers and better writing, Sarutobi Hiruzen only slightly questioned Hari-san's teaching ability (or sanity) to accomplish one of the tasks written on Hari-san's list. Most would not have even attempted such a task. A few hours later the third Hokage's opinion changed from Hari-san was a great teacher to Hari-san was a masterful teacher. The event that changed his opinion... was meditation.

Specifically a moving meditation known as 'yoga' was much more of Naruto's style than just sitting to ponder the world. Hiruzen continued to peek into his globe every so often to check up on the two boys, so he was aware when Naruto was pulling Hari along to meet him.

/

/

"Jiji!"

"He is not that old." Hari-san slapped both of his hands over his mouth, eyes clearly signaling 'opps', before releasing his hands with a false cough, "Erm... Naruto, you didn't mention Jiji was the Fire Shadow."

"I'm sure he didn't." Hiruzen's eyes were filled with wry humor.

"So... um... does this happen often?" Hari-san smiled nervously, rubbing a spot on his forehead.

"No, not very often." the Hokage replied neutrally.

"Jiji, this is Hari-san. Hari-san this is Jiji. Yes he's the Hokage, but someone needs to keep him down to earth." Naruto announced cheerfully.

"Ah, I understand." Hari-san replied quietly, looking lost in his thoughts.

"Hari?" Naruto asked, literally shaking Hari-san out of his thoughts. Disoriented, there was a flash of pain in Hari-san's eyes that was quickly hidden from the younger boy. But the Hokage had seen it and wondered what kind of memory Hari-san was remembering.

Although Hari-san certainly seemed like he wasn't a ninja, there were discrepancies that Hiruzen wanted cleared up as soon as possible. He didn't want a spy or sympathizer near Naruto-kun. The only reasons he hadn't sent Hari-san directly to the I&T department were a) he wanted to be part of Hari-san's interrogation and b) he had already asked Naruto to bring Hari by the office. The following conversation was tense underneath Naruto's chatter and Hari-san's occasional comments. When some time had passed, Hiruzen managed to interrupt Naruto,

"Naruto, could you please wait outside? I would like to speak to Hari-san alone."

Naruto looked suspiciously at the Hokage, "Jiji, you're not going to torture him right? I won't let you if you do." The academy student folded his arms and tried to intimidating.

Hari-san huffed, "I will be fine Naruto. Besides, I have a question or two of my own."

"But... what if I want to stay?" Naruto pleaded, whining, "Or what if I get bored?"

"Well..." Hari eyed Naruto, looking slightly mischievous, "The Hokage looks like he has plenty of paper to practice your hand writing on. I'm sure he'd welcome a helping hand." Naruto looked horrified, gulping as he reexamined the desk.

"Never mind then, I prefer meditation. See you in a while Jiji!" Naruto waved as he left, completely unaware of the hidden ninja in the attic sending off an incredulous wave of emotion.

"Hari-san, would you mind clearing up some questions for me?" The Hokage asked pleasantly with a tone of steel underneath. There was no doubt that it had been an order.

"As best I can." Hari-san replied tensely, "You doubt who I am or at least how truthful I am, so is there anyway you would believe my answers fully?"

Some suspicions confirmed, the Hokage signaled his ANBU to clear the room after Hummingbird-san was brought inside, "Actually, yes."

Hari took a deep breath, "What would I have to do?"

"Let an ANBU and I talk to you in your mindscape."

Hari-san started, "In my mindscape?" Surprise quickly turned into thoughtful curiosity, "How would he or she do that?"

"A clan technique." The Hokage replied simply. Hummingbird-san entered through the window. The Hokage noted that Hari-san hadn't been surprised at all.

"Hari-san this is Hummingbird-san."

"Does it need eye contact?"

"Why would you think that?" Sarutobi asked neutrally, eyes glinting in interest.

"I'll answer that in my mindscape, if you don't mind. That way you can be sure I'm telling you the truth." Hari-san replied, looking curious as the Fire Shadow blinked at the ANBU. Hummingbird-san lifted her hands and placed one hand on the Hokage's forehead while placing her left hand on Hari-san's forehead.

/

/

.-.-.-.

/

/

Unlike Legilimens, the wizard's mind probe spell, how Hummingbird-san entered his mindscape was very different. Instead, reality blurred before fading into Hari's mindscape. To Hari's surprise the three of them landed directly into his mindscape. Having been given a verbal warning, Hari had hidden his most vicious shields, but only one had been triggered. It took less than a second to send the mist over to 'Hogwarts' in the distance.

Whereas, Legilimens pulled or tugged on memories, thoughts or emotions, but you couldn't view your own body. With Legilimens, you could only enter into someones mindscape after you had torn down someones defenses and occlumency wall unless you had an unusual connection between two minds. On the other hand the art of Occlumency required building your mindscape and it's defenses. In a well defended mind, memories were hidden or used as distractions.

Hummingbird-san's mask and uniform had been peeled away to what she would look like in her own mindscape. She had brown hair with white streaks and blue eyes. The Hokage currently looked like he was a year or two younger. Hari politely conjured up imitation robes and mask for the woman to wear.

"What is your name? Your birth name?" the woman clarified expressionlessly,

"The name I was given at birth was Potter Harry. It later became Black-Potter Harry. My name currently is Shiro-fukurō Harii."

"Why did you change names?" The Fire Shadow inquired.

"A new start for one. And freedom for another. I could be myself rather than someone else's puppet."

"Why did you choose 'Shiro-fukurō Harii' as your name."

"Hedwig, my best friend was a white owl. She saved my life at the cost of her own."

"Are you a ninja?"

"No. There are no ninja where I came from."

"Are you a spy? Did you know any spies?" the leader of Konoha demanded. Asking more specific questions often helped in an investigation.

"No. Yes. His name was Snape Severus. He died giving me some of his memories."

Both adults couldn't hide the interest in their eyes, "Giving you his memories?"

Inwardly groaning, Hari tried to explain, "Where I came from there was a... technique where you could defend your memories, thoughts and feelings from being influenced. Part of that defense involves cleaning up and organizing your mind. Severus was a master in the art and could... I guess you might explain it as connecting mindscapes, but... not. I would imagine from what Hummingbird-san has done, is more of actually connecting mindscapes than what Severus did. Quite frankly, I didn't know you could just simply arrive in someone's mindscape without going through the more obvious defenses. I have a door in the woods somewhere that hides some of his memories. And the other half is sorted elsewhere."

"You mentioned that this technique was a defense, what was the method of offense to attack?" the woman asked.

"Several actually. The most common and obvious was a technique more like a mind probe and the second was control over the victim. There were... I don't know a word for it, but they were called potions and the victim was more open to 'suggestions', but also usually had antidotes."

"The mindprobe, did it require eye contact?" Hummingbird-san asked briskly

Hari nodded, "I can show you the memories of learning the mindprobe, would you like to see them?"

"Certainly." The Hokage answered mildly, and after watching a few memories of Hari's 'lessons' Hari winced, an echo of the pain returning,

"Snape... wasn't a very good teacher but he was an excellent spy. My... village (it was a lot more spread out than one village) went through two civil wars. I'll never like the man, but I respect him. Right up until the end, Severus survived, saving as many lives as he could while appearing to be the enemy. He saved my life several times and he hated me all the more for it."

"That's... confusing." The Hokage remarked.

"Professor Snape was a complex individual." Hari shrugged.

"Perhaps you should start at the beginning."

Hari sucked in a breath, "The beginning... that would take a very long time to explain." Hari debated within himself. Was having their trust worth it? "There is some knowledge I don't want spread about. Including the fact that I have something similar to a bloodline limit. My life was very... strange."

Having made a decision, Hari continued with a detailed summary of his life. It was helpful to have memories that Hummingbird-san proved to be authentic that could show his life better than he could simply say. He showed them several important events that led up to the second civil war (showing more than a few memories on the war). He managed to keep his role in the war downsized (well, as much as he could. Even without mentioning the 'prophecy', Hari still lead people quite often.) and didn't elaborate on the extent that 'magic' could achieve. Even having been here in the Elemental Countries for a few months, Hari knew that bloodlines were very sought after. Hari also managed to keep the fact that Britian was in another dimension secret. He twisted facts so that England (and Scotland) were islands hidden beyond the Elementary Countries.

Both of the adults winced when they watched memories of the inferi or the undead fighting. Hari briefly explained that the leader of the other side, Voldemort had claimed immortality (neglecting to mention just 'how' Voldemort had been sort-of immortal) as he showed the differences between Riddle looking human before becoming snake-like. In turn the Hokage explained that Konoha also had a man with a snake affinity seeking immortality. Hari grimaced.

Not to long after that, the interrogation became mostly questions of interest.

"So why did you choose to settle in Konoha?" the Hokage asked

Hari smiled, "Partially because of how everyone agreed that Konoha ninja were strange. It seemed a good fit. I also chose it based on distance. I never plan to return to England and I hope I never do."

"Your mind is larger and more organized than I've ever seen." The ANBU woman admitted, "Do you think you could teach someone how to have a mindscape like this?"

Hari shrugged, "Occlumency is built up from meditation. I believe nearly anyone could learn occlumency, but I'm not sure. It might require something from my bloodline limit. I was going to try with Naruto if his meditation lessons went well."

Hummingbird-san hummed, "Well if it turns out that it can be taught, I'm sure that there are several clan members who will want this kept within the clan."

"We'll see I guess. Oh, I just remembered. Are all clones almost solid like Naruto's? I thought it was an illusion until I touched it." Hari asked.

"There is one clone that is supposed to be solid, but not the regular bushins." The Hokage mused, "It sound like Naruto needs better chakra control."

"Huh. I'll tell Naruto that for the next time he goes to the library. Anyway with the solid clone, can they... I don't know where I'm going with this..."

"Unless you have insane amounts of chakra, Kage Bushin aren't a viable techniques." The Hokage explained.

"Just a hypothetical question then. Can a solid clone lift weight or something? And how would shadows make a solid clone?"

"Theoretically, yes." The Fire Shadow answered, ignoring the second question, "What are you thinking of?"

"I don't really know... just... if a clone could lift up a pencil and write your name, you're stacks of paperwork might be a lot smaller. Then again a stamp could do the same thing..."

"Do you want to become a ninja Hari-kun?" The Sanadaime asked abruptly,

"...Not at this time. I'm content with what I have." Hari thought about it before responding.

"Should Konoha come upon times of trouble, be aware that I have have the power to draft civilians."

"Should Konoha come to trouble, I wouldn't be able to stay away. Hermione always said I had a 'saving-people' thing." Hari answered wryly.

"Will you be teaching Naruto your native language"

"Possibly. I'm sure you know that I'm already teaching him a number of things."

"How did you know they were there? Actually how long have you sensed your watchers?" the Hokage questioned.

Hari sighed, "Since I first moved into my flat. Actually I'm pretty sure someone has been watching me since I entered this city. At first it was a casual watcher, but then there was usually two keeping watch once I moved into my flat. And how... I'd have to say it was an ability of my bloodlimit. I can send a pulse of energy and detect nearly anything or anyone nearby. It's not infallible, but it's useful."

"Hn. Maybe we should label your unique ability as 'Sensing' since earlier you mentioned your bloodlimit tends to be more connected with spiritual energy." Unknown to Hari, the Hokage was thinking of how to increase the training of his ANBU. With the help of Shadow Clones, he'd even be able to do it himself.

"Sure, let's go with that." Hari nodded. "I have one more question. If you see Naruto as a grandson, why does he live on his own?"

The Hokage sighed tiredly, "Politics. I would if I could, but there are some other ninja with the political power who don't see Naruto for himself."

"Huh. At least you protect him better than my mentor ever kept me safe." Hari remarked.

After the three of them had left Hari's mindscape, the Hokage having declared the existence of lands beyond the Elemental Countries an 'SS' class secret (Hokage-only secret, partially so the third Hokage didn't have to deal with the headache of the council finding out) and Hari's undefined ability newly labeled 'sensing' as an 'A' class secret.

"Welcome to Konoha Shiro-fukurō Harii." the Hokage slightly bowed to a bewildered Hari.

"Thank you?" Hari replied with a deeper bow as was polite. (Actually Hari didn't know if bows had the same meaning here than in England. He made a mental note to double check in a book and with some of the locals he had become acquainted with).

Time passed differently in a mindscape, so the hours within Hari's mind was closer to only one hour in the real world. That didn't stop Naruto from bursting into the office as soon as the guards were signaled the okay. Hummingbird-san was already gone. The Hokage cheerfully escorted the two boys out of the building, Naruto demanding why he was so cheerful.

"Oh. There's a technique I'll teach you once you are older and have better chakra control. Hari-kun was the one who reminded me of it." The Hokage finally explained at the bottom of the tower, "I think we've got time to go to Ichiraku's together."

Naruto cheered even as Hari pointed out they had been there only an hour before.

"But it's Ramen!" Naruto yelled.

"Was that technique really that exciting?" Hari rubbed his forehead. Naruto really was just too loud. It was one of the main reasons Hari wanted Naruto to learn how to concentrate through meditation.

"Certainly! I can now defeat my most determined enemy." the Hokage hummed.

"Who's that?" Naruto scrunched up his nose.

"Paperwork." And Hari let out a startled laugh.

"It's definitely persistent." Hari agreed.


	6. Chapter 6: A Civilian Punishment

Chapter 6: Civilian Punishment

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Naruto

Authors Note: If this is the last chapter I create before I leave, farewell. Thank you for the support.

To answer questions:

That day when the ninja's could enter Hari's apartment's it was just normally (key) locked plus an intangible barrier alert ward. Hari carries anything with him that is really important. Letting the ninja's snoop around is like saying 'I don't have anything to hide/ I'm just a civilian'. It was only later when Naruto was sleeping on Hari's floor that Hari locked his apartment with runes that would prevent any intruders.

.-.

The Academy Clone is just an illusion and not solid, but I'd imagine that with all of the chakra that Naruto pushes into the regular clone technique (plus after achieving his transformation technique he'd subconsciously imagine that the illusion is supposed to be solid) that Naruto's regular clone look terrible and are almost solid. They aren't Kage Bushin solid [it's more comparing jello to ice cream- neither one is a block of wood, but jello is very easy to 'tear' apart and almost never looks fancy unless created by a professional aka has good chakra control or made in a specialized container aka has low chakra reserves. Whereas icecream has a higher density (requires more ingredients or chakra) and can be sculpted easier (less chakra control) to create a better looking dish.] Anyway, Naruto surplus chakra is like adding too much gelatin (too much chakra) in too little of water (the regular clones capacity). Does that make any sense?

.-.

With the 'drafting' thing, any military leader need more men if incidents lead to loosing half their military force. Just by having abilities and experience in war, Hari is already more likely to be chosen as a ninja than any other civilian. The Hokage, Dumbledore, and Danzo are all military leaders, but I see the Hokage as the kindest of the three as he tries to let Hari have his own choice. But as Hari is becoming a 'precious person' to Naruto the possibility of Hari being targeted later on is very high. By drafting Hari, he might be able to defend himself better. (Remember the Hokage doesn't know the actual extent of Hari's powers).

Both Dumbledore and Danzo wouldn't have given Hari a choice and made him into a weapon. Danzo would have made Hari into a emotionless living weapon. Dumbledore (in this version) wanted Hari to be an emotional disposable weapon, whose political and monetary capital was under his hand or at least so thankful to Dumbledore that he'd willingly do anything the Headmaster asked (self-justifying himself).

.-.-.-.

The apartment question was partially answered in the previous author notes. However, to summarize, Hari owns his apartment, not the building. I hadn't thought about Hari buying Naruto's apartment, but it's a good idea. However, we'll see if it happens. I would think that Naruto would want to rent his own apartment as a sign of independence from Hari as he already feels slightly indebted to Hari for taking an interest in his life, teaching him so many things. Naruto's been on his own for many years already and Hari understands that.

/

/

.-.-.-.

/

/

So accustomed to stares whether good or bad in general, Hari really didn't notice the glares were directed towards Naruto at first. However, he had unconsciously taken a protective step closer to Naruto, while wondering why the villagers were suddenly being so hostile. Perhaps it was something in the nighttime air.

"Demon!" A drunken villager threw a half full sake bottle. It was widely off target and was headed towards his head. Hari's eyes narrowed, the word 'Demon' being replaced by 'Freak' in his mind.

"Hari!" Naruto cried out trying to take the hit instead. He missed.

Reacting instinctively, Hari swerved, catching the slippery glass midair, slowly tipped and emptied the sake in contempt, glaring at the villagers. "What. Do you think you are _Doing_?!" Hari hissed in fury.

Some civilians recoiled, hurrying away, "...probably an off-duty shinobi," one whispered fearfully.

"He's a monster." the first drunkard spat. And Hari realized that they were pointing at Naruto. Naruto, who was more heart and energy than brain at this point in time. Naruto, who was his neighbor and friend, possibly even a little brother. The villagers, most of whom seemed to be generally nice people to Hari the day before, now gave off an aura of frustration, even hatred.

_"Go Home."_ Any less experience in meditating and containing his magical power and Hari might have exploded everything within a wide (Hari wasn't sure how far) radius. Even so, Hari knew the wind had picked up and his magic was sparking, demanding to be used. Hari wouldn't be surprised if there had been a magical compulsion in his command with how fast the other civilians scattered. Really, it was the kindest thing he could have done.

"Hari?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"We need to go home," Hari gritted softly, "Now!"

/

/

Reaching their floor of the pale pink building, "I'm sorry." Naruto quietly murmured as he fiddled with his hands. Was their beginning friendship at an end?

"Don't. Just... It's not you. They're the adults. They are the ones who are supposed to be ashamed." Hari slammed his hand against the wall, sliding down to hide his face. "Bloody..." Hari hiccuped, "...I guess it was foolishness to expect that there would be more logic in the rest of the world."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked cautiously.

"Even if you were a demon, you'd still be a child. But you're not a demon, youAnd no child deserves to be ostracized." Hari lifted his head to meet Naruto's eyes, "But even children can be labeled by adult expectations and ridiculed or praised for someone else's failures. Like I was." Hari swallowed hard, "I survived when my parents did not when I was a toddler and some people praised me for it even though I believe I survived because of my parents. Another group, including my relatives, despised me for it. It was the very rare adult that actually cared if I survived my childhood."

/

"How long has this been happening?" Hari asked quietly as he handed Naruto a mug of hot chocolate and a bag of marshmallows.

"Ever since I can remember." Naruto responded, his ever present smile looking as close to grim and miserable as the other boy would allow himself to.

Hari sighed, "And let me guess, you don't know why."

Naruto nodded, "It gets worse on my birthday." Hari accidentally spilled some of his hot water onto his hand in surprise, hissing lowly in pain as ran cold water over it. He gestured Naruto to continue before he could get off his feet, "The only clue I have is that I was born on the day the Demon Fox attacked Konoha"

"The Demon Fox? What's that?" Hari asked.

Naruto gaped, "It was in the history scroll you had me copy. You haven't read it?"

Hari looked sheepish, "I don't read everything before you, you know. That's something Hermione would do."

Puffing up, as it wasn't very often that Naruto knew more than Hari, Naruto unconsciously imitated Hari's voice as he took a deep breath, "There are nine tailed beasts also known as demons because of their strength in . The most notorious and powerful of them all was the nine-tailed Kitsune called Kyūbi."

"A Kitsune?!" Hari yelped, in shock and awe.

Naruto scrunched up his nose in confusion, "There's more than one?" Before scowling plaintively, "Hari-nii, you're not supposed to interrupt."

"Sorry Naruto-kun. Please continue."

"The eight-tails or Hachibi looks like an ox headed squid. The seven-tails or Nanabi is supposedly like a beetle. The six-tails or Rokubi is sluggish in appearance." Hari snickered, while Naruto glared at him suspiciously,

"That sounds like a pun. Pardon me." Hari coughed, taking a sip of hot chocolate, "Continue."

"The five-tails or Gobi is rumored to appear as a white horse with the head of a dolphin. The four-tails or Yobi looks similar to a monkey. The three-tails or Sanbi is known to look like a crabish turtle. The two-tails or Nibi looks like a cat turned into a... a.."

"What's wrong?"

"It's a ghost. A flaming ghost." Naruto shuddered.

Hari blinked, "What's wrong with ghosts?"

"I...hn... I don't like them." Naruto muttered, rubbing his yellow-haired head sheepishly.

"Hm...okay. I don't like swimming in frigid water or traitors." Hari grimaced, "You're almost done. What is the last one like?"

"The one tailed or Ichibi is a crazed Tanuki or Raccoon Dog." Naruto bowed with a flourish.

"How did you remember all of that?" Hari asked, clapping lightly in applause.

"I used the picture words method. The one you showed me how to draw something based on it's word." Naruto grinned happily, "It's the funnest use of the fancy writing."

"The best use." Hari corrected, smiling, "I'm glad it works for you. Now, we've got some time before going to sleep, I vote for meditation."

Naruto cheered, "Seconded. Can we have cake afterwords?"

"Naruto." Hari sighed exasperatedly, "Sugar is not something to be had just before bedtime."

"But you just said we had some time. Can we have some cake now?"

Hari grumbled a little before giving in, "A small slice. Then meditation."

/

/

After Naruto had dragged himself back to his apartment, Hari followed once his lessening ANBU guard disappeared in the morning hours. There wasn't anything he could do about the inside of Naruto's apartment right now, but remembering finding bruises on Naruto, Hari grimly set about setting up an interconnected tri runic ward. Each piece was written on a different piece of the wall. One was drawn on the left side of the door, the next runic drawing on the door and door frame, and the third piece of the runic drawings was written on the wall of the right side of the door. In the end, it formed a squished triangle, runic arrays on each tip of the 'triangle'. Once connected they glowed faintly before sinking into the wood. No longer visible, the wood sang with power before fading away. This protective array would repel and confuse any attackers with malicious intent. However, it was just one wall and probably wouldn't deter a ninja for long.

/

/

/

/

It was a beautiful autumn October day and Kamizuki Hanae was following Hari around as he shopped. She didn't mind that Hari was quiet, only occasionally inputting comments as she pointed out everybody that she knew, introducing him to a few. Hanae-chan didn't notice when Hari's eyes coldly flashed in contempt when he spotted a villager that had glared at Naruto the night before as Hari was nothing but polite as he inwardly plotted. Only his green eyes betrayed him.

"...That's Uzumaki's handwork." Hanea-chan finally drew Hari's full attention. He looked over to see several stalls, most notably the stores that wouldn't sell Naruto decent food, repainted. It matched Naruto's jumpsuit. Hari idly wondered if Naruto had run away or stayed and blended into a newly painted crevice. He sent out a pulse of magic, smiling slightly as he found Naruto not too far from them. Really, the boy's stealth skills were incredible."

"...His parents should be ashamed of themselves. Letting Uzumaki run all over."

"No. His parents would be ashamed of this village." Hari rebuked her coldly, green fiery eyes sharp as blades.

Hanae-chan either didn't see the glare or ignored it, "Why? He's just a delinquent school skipper. Or did you know his parents?"

"_Naruto_ is my neighbor. And honestly, his resilience at ignoring gossiping simpletons is to be admired."

Hanae-chan recoiled, sputtering, "Did you just call me a simpleton? What is possibly admirable in that orange jumpsuit-ed gaki?"

"You are supposed to be a shinobi and look underneath the obvious. Just because someone is saving lives, doesn't mean that they aren't also destroying others. I had an old teacher as paranoid as a ninja, who was always telling us to be alert and question everything. Why does someone betray another? Why is that person always smiling? Why does that person only sell tuna and not shrimp? Some questions are easier to answer than others, but some have stories behind them."

"...You'd make a great shinobi." Hanae-chan admitted after a while of silence.

"I'm fine with being a civilian."

"You do realize you just gave me a lecture on being a shinobi right?"

"So? All I care about is that you need to apologize to Naruto. And before you can ask why, it's because he's been listening this whole time."

"How-?"

"Not every warrior is a ninja Hanae-chan." Hari remarked quietly, "Some are bandits, some are pranksters, and some are animals."

"And you?" Hanae-chan challenged,

"I am a prankster's son."

"But that doesn't mean you are a prankster, does it?"

"Maybe, maybe not." Hari replied blankly.

Hanae-chan hesitated, "...Is he still there?"

"No, it seems like he went home. Or to train."

"Could you give him my apologies?"

"No. That would be pointless."

"You're right." Hanae-chan sighed, "Uzumaki and you live in the strawberry colored building, right?"

"Yes." Hari tilted his head in acknowledgment.

"I will see you in a while then. I need to find a forgiveness gift." Hanae-chan bowed slightly, "Thank you for the advice. You have given me cause to think deeper."

Hari bowed in return, "Your welcome." Hari grunted as she swiftly walked away.

/

/

/

/

"Gently, gently!" Hari called out as Naruto accidentally smashed an egg a bit too hard, "Here's a washcloth."

Naruto wiped the raw egg off his face, unexpectedly flicking some at Hari, "Got you!"

"Hey!" Hari protested, before smirking, "I didn't know you were envying the food Naruto."

"What-? Hey!" Naruto sputtered and sneezed as a thick cloud of flour covered him.

"There. Now you've got a 'crust of your own'." Hari smirked.

"You're on!" And the two boys proceeded to try and make the other boy more messy and dirty through the use of eggs flour and sugar.

"Ha! That will 'sweeten' you." Hari crowed in triumph.

Both boys jumped in fright when there was a sudden knock on the door. Looking at each other, they grinned sheepishly. Hari took the lead to open the door first.

"Hari!" Hanae yelped, "What-?"

"I was redecorating the kitchen. Naruto is the one imitating a sweetened omelet."

"Hey! We'll you're a piece of, of cake!"

Hari snickered, "Is that the best you can come up with? Anyway someone's here to talk to you."

"Me?" Naruto asked in a mixture of confusion and curiosity as he popped up behind Hari.

Hanae shoved a bundle of orange flowers into Naruto's hand, bowing apologetically, "I'm sorry about what I said earlier about you and your parents."

"I- No one's ever asked me for forgiveness before." Naruto looked at Hari, "What do I do?"

"Give a thankful bow and forgive her." Hari whispered, withdrawing from the two. Naruto clumsily bowed and thanked her for the apology and the flowers. He even offered to let Hanae join in on their 'cooking' lesson, Hanae smiled in relief and amusement,

"It seems like you two were having fun, but I've got training with my uncles this afternoon. See you around Naruto."

/

/

/

/

On the tenth day of October, Hari and Naruto were cornered in a dead end alley by several drunk (and some not-so-drunk) party goers.

"Don't you know who this is?! It's a monster!" One of the largest men (besides Uncle Vernon) that Hari had ever seen, spat in Hari's face when Hari defended Naruto verbally.

Hari looked oddly calm as he icily glared into the man's raging face and raised an eyebrow, "I've seen monsters. Funny, you look more like one than Naruto. Maybe people should be keeping their children away from you." Hari's voice was steel as he pulled himself out of the large man's grip, "Most monsters act like cowardly sheep. I see no difference between the crowd around me and a flock of cowardly sheep." Hari's visage darkened. He sneered at the crowd, "Hurt Naruto in any form, that includes overpricing him for pathetic groceries and goods, throwing him out of your shop, and speaking to him as uncivilized barbarians... And you will regret it one way or another."

The crowd advanced despite the warding. Hummingbird-san and Squrriel-san arrived and scattered the crowd as Naruto led Hari out of the dead end going up the side of a building. There were no more incidents that night.

/

/

/

/

It took Hari three days to create and perfect the runic array he wanted. In the process he became slightly careless, as Naruto had snatched a piece of fallen paper. He had intended on simply throwing it away, but spotting the crumpled design, unfolded the paper. He blinked at it.

"Hari? What is that?" Naruto handed the sheet over as they were going through another calligraphy lesson. Hari's tired expression allowed Naruto to see Hari's surprise and rueful sheepishness.

"Hari?" Naruto prompted again.

The raven-haired boy looked up and not for the first time realized how exhausted Hari had been for the past three days. Hari's smile spoke of grim wistfulness, as he ran his hand through his hair, "Something that I wished I had created earlier. I'll explain the details later."

"Does this have something to do with having better handwriting?" Naruto asked, "This seems more than a letter."

"It is. Please don't tell anyone, not even Jiji."

"I won't." Naruto vowed.

/

/

Under the cover of night, hidden within a notice-me-not spell (and runes for good paranoid measure), Hari walked into the civilian sector. Inspired by one of Hanae's training session's, Hari used a digging spell in someone's garden, raising notice-me-not wards over the area. Once he was sufficently under the earth, Hari vanished the dirt ahead of him, using another wandless spell to prevent the dirt from collapsing inward. He continued until he was underneath a fountain. He replaced a cobblestone square with a granite warding stone. It was the center of the runic array and would keep re-powering the magic in the design. He needed the warding stone because it was magic that was more spread out than even a building. If Hari ever needed to add more complex protections to his home, then he would need to tie some wards to a warding stone. As it was, runic arrays didn't usually need the extra power of a warding stone unless they were supposed to last for a very long time. Hari then retraced his footsteps, refilling in the age-old dirt and erasing any signs of his presence by fixing whoever-it-was's garden before retreating home before the sky could lighten any further.

/

/

The results of the hidden runic array didn't appear... at first. But then, not even two days later, the people living in the civilian sector began to change slowly. On the day after someone had insulted anyone cruelly or a committed a malicious act, there would be at least a flicker of shame cross the faces of the guilty. Naruto, was the first to notice the minor changes that increased. Eyes that had glared at him in scorn and hate dropped in number as several people suddenly couldn't even look at Naruto anymore. About a week after Hari had placed the seal, an old lady who had hated Naruto's guts (the feeling was mutual) not only ignored her newly pink splattered pranked lawn but shoved several bags of groceries at Naruto and refused any attempts to be paid for them.

"Don't bother paying." The villager growled as she turned to her next customer.

Stunned, Naruto nodded.

/

/

"Hari?" Naruto asked in a calligraphy lesson he had actually asked to have.

"Hai Naruto?"

"What did that design do?"

"Hold on." Hari quickly activated his locking runes to prevent any interruption, "What that perfected 'design' does Naruto, is tug on any feelings of guilt and shame. That night, their dreams 'remind' them of... well it's complicated, but their dreams basically emphasize that guilt or shame, prevents anger, makes them view any incidents that hurt another person and lets them feel anything the other person feels. It doesn't prevent bad things from happening, but it does help people see it from another angle."

"It can do that?" Naruto asked, eying the paper and inked brush in his hand, "Just paper and ink?" Suddenly calligraphy seemed that much more interesting.

"Hai, although I mostly use paper and ink just for plotting. If you get good enough you don't even need the paper or ink. I tend to just use ink unless it is something that needs to be particularity powerful. This type requires something from my bloodline's abilities, but the other day, Hanae showed me an explosive tag."

"Oh yeah!" Naruto nodded enthusiastically, "I remember that lesson, but I've never thought about it that way. Seals are chakra enhanced ink and paper."

"Is there anything in the library on the topic?" Hari excitedly asked,

Naruto scratched his head, "I don't know. It's probably only really simple stuff."

"I'd be willing to read it. Or buy it in the case of a bookstore." Hari said quickly, "Even the beginner's stuff. We might not be able to make them right now, but it would be good to have the resources on hand!" '_And it would be easier to explain the wards on this place.' _Hari silently added.

"I'll ask about it then." Naruto nodded. And that was that.


	7. Chapter 7: Residents and a Breakdown

Chapter 7: Residents and Breakdowns.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Naruto.

Author's Note: I finally tried raw tuna (steak)! It actually tasted really good and not slimy as I thought it would be (like raw egg). I used to work in a sushi place but I could never get up the nerve to try raw tuna, but I finally have!

I'm surprised that I've been able to write so much before I leave on my mission. Guess you all are lucky at least once more.

In answer to a question: No would notice the effects of the hidden runes in the civilian sector unless they come back after a long term mission later on. It's designed that no one really notices anything amiss. It's similar to the effect of boiling a frog in slowly heated water. Unless you're the frog that jumps back into a heated pot (and said heated pot is only luke-warm as the runes are subtle), the villagers and shinobi aren't likely going to notice anything amiss.

/

/

.-.-.-.

/

/

Hari was cooking with Kamizuki Izumi, preparing for her family-teammate dinner where he stumbled on his next project. The two of them had decided on a competition in order to share the burden of feeding so many stomachs. Izumi-san was in the process of stylizing several different kinds of sushi and had made dango for desert. Her sushi was mostly inverted, displaying the rice on the outside of the roll with most of the ingredients like cucumber sticks and crab on the inside. The other ingredients topped the roll to look more decorative. It varied whether she used a lightly spicy orange drizzle or soy sauce to top the roll off. Meanwhile, Hari fried lightly battered fish for a main course and made sticky squares (a smaller derivative of sticky buns) for desert. Somehow they both managed to cook their respective meals in the same small kitchen. And rice, there was mountains of rice cooking in the oven-converted-into-a-steamer.

Hari had simply shown up and been put to work by a frantic Izumi-san. He had agreed to help Izumi-san partially out of boredom, partially out of the desire to help and partially the need for a distraction to stay away from Naruto. The Hokage was spending the day with his honorary grandson and Hari didn't want to ruin it for them. Hari remembered the few times that he had one-on-one time with Sirus and he certainly wished that he had been able to get to know the man better before he died. Hari sighed softy. In the chaos of the kitchen, the sound went unheard.

/

/

Special Jounin Kenji Kazuo arrived with his specialized team of genin medics. It was an unusual arrangement, but the hospital really needed more trained medics. Anyway it had turned out well for Kazuo.

Kamizuki Hanae led the way into her home. She was the oldest of the genin, mainly because she had passed up on the chunnin exams twice in her desire to have a better-than-most foundation in D-ranks, following in the footsteps of her uncles. (Although most of her D-ranks were in the hospital rather than outside). Lately, however, Hanae had been expressing the desire to up her training in detecting enemies and learning how to spot inconsistencies. When asked why, Hanae-chan had replied that she wanted to be able to keep her patients safe from intruders or spies. Morino Daiki and Yamanaka Akane, her teammates, became interested and eventually discovered that Hanae's new enthusiasm for training stemmed from a boy named Hari. She likely had a crush on the boy as both of her teammates had easily determined.

"He has wild Uchiha dark hair, but none of their abrasive personality. He's really kind and wise for a civilian. And he has the greenest eyes." Hanae-chan had smiled dreamily. At this, Daiki-kun had raised an eyebrow and Akane-chan listened in fascination. Hanae-chan didn't usually speak of boys as she was usually a strong tomboy type of girl, focused only on her goal to become a hospital medic-nin.

Morino Daiki was the younger cousin of the infamous Morino Ibiki of the Interrogation and Torture department. His dream was to be able to identify and cure any poison and become a hunter-nin one day. Kazuo was thinking of suggesting the boy to be apprenticed under Shiranui Genma once the lad made chunin.

Yamanaka Akane wanted to be able to heal minds (well as much as broken minds could be healed). She wouldn't mind going into the I&T department for a while, but her main goal was to heal Konoha's returning shinobi. She was the only 'clan' kid, but the others also came from shinobi families. However, Akane-chan was only distantly related to the clan head, whereas the other two had a closer connection with their more well known shinobi family members.

Besides learning how to heal, all three were training in the art of senbon, genjutsu, and recently were increasingly learning how to interrogate. Kazou's own specialty was healing people on the go. He wasn't as good as Tsusade-sama, but he was up there on a list of the better medics.

Kazou sniffed, mouth watering from the aroma's floating around Hanae-chan's house. As an experienced shinobi, he was valiantly able to keep the drool within his mouth. Daiki-kun and Akane-chan didn't bother hiding their reactions, instead they closed their eyes and hummed in appreciation.

"That chakra signal..." Hanae-chan mumbled, thinking, "Hari-kun's in the kitchen with my mother."

Akane-chan blinked, "Does he often cook with your mother?"

"Oh yeah. They trade recipes quite often." Hanae-chan replied,

"Trade recipes?" Daiki-kun questioned,

"The way it works is mom teaches him something Hari-kun doesn't know how to make and then Hari-kun teaches her something she didn't know how to make. It's kind of amazing that Hari-kun knows so many recipes that even my mom doesn't know how to make and he's around my age!"

"So... Do they need help testing their recipes?" Akane-chan offered slyly.

"Hari-kun usually does. Actually he could easily run a bakery, but he doesn't want to run a buisness right now. He's told me that he bakes when he can't sleep, so he often ends up with a lot of leftover food. That's how we met actually, he was trying to find the orphanage, carrying a large bag of sweet loaves."

"To the orphanage?" Kazou repeated. He himself had been an orphan living at the orphanage and could easily imagine that Hari-kun's treats were welcomed among the children. But it was an expensive thing to feed so many children, "How does he afford that?"

"He's never told me." Hanae-chan shrugged.

"Hello!" Kamizuki Izumo called out cheerfully from behind the medic team.

"We're home!" Hagane Kotetsu hollered.

"And look who we managed to bring over for dinner!" Izumo-san pulled Hayate Gekkou into his family's home.

"Eh, he looks like he's on the thin side." Kotetsu-san inspected.

Hayate-san rolled his eyes, "Not when you insist on stuffing me with your sister's cooking."

"Hayate-san!" Daiki-kun greeted the kenjutsu specialist.

"How are you Daiki-kun?" Hayate-san rasped before a terrible cough burst from Hayate-san's lungs to interrupt their conversation.

"It's been a while, but I've been making a lot of progress on becoming a better poison medic." Daiki-kun beamed.

"I'm sure your cousin will be very proud." Hayate-san smiled at the boy, "Is your dream still..."

"Yep!" Daiki answered.

"Very good then." Hayate-san lowered himself into a chair that Hanae-chan had been thoughtful to bring out.

"You're so old Hayate-san!" Kotetsu-san snickered

"I'm not dead yet." Hayate-san remarked dryly, "Besides..."

"You're not taking revenge are you?" Izumo-san asked warily.

"Nope." But Hayate-san sounded too happy for the gate guards liking.

"But I will!" And Izumi-san banged her brothers' heads together.

"Itai!" The two groaned.

"You shouldn't be making fun of the guests." Izumi-san scolded Izumo and Kotetsu.

"Hi mom. Did you invite Hari-kun?" Hanae-chan asked eagerly.

Izumi-san eyed her daughter knowingly, "No, but you can."

"M-me?" Hanae-chan stuttered.

"He's still in the kitchen keeping an eye on things while I took a break to scold those two."

"I would like to meet him." Kazou prodded mildly. Hanae-chan blushed and nodded.

/

/

"Hari-kun?" Hanae asked nervously.

"Hai, Hanae-chan?" Hari-kun asked as washed some of the dishes.

"Would you like to join us for dinner?"

Hari-kun paused, turning to face Hanae as he lifted his arms out of the sink and dried them, "Me? Join your family of teammates for dinner?"

"Hai! You've done such a wonderful job with the food and we would appreciate if you joined us."

"...Are you sure?" Hari-kun asked with a troubled look.

Hanae frowned, "Why wouldn't I be? Besides, I've invited you and it would be rude to refuse."

Hari-kun's frown quickly changed into a wry smile, "Arigato Hanae-chan, I'd be delighted to attend."

Hanae grinned, pulling him out of the kitchen, "Then come on!"

/

/

Daiki kept a close watch on the kitchen doorway. After being on the same team for a couple of years, the older girl was like his older sister; he didn't want anything bad to happen to her. So when Hanae-neechan dragged the expected stranger into the room, he quickly memorized the older boy's face in order to know who to hunt down if Hanae-neechan ever went on a date with him.

/

/

Akane blinked in surprise. Hari-kun was one of the shortest boys he had ever met and bluntly told him so. He scowled at her, obviously his lack of height was something of a sore point,

"So? You're the youngest girl I've met with graying hair." Hari-kun retorted.

"It's not grey! It's blonde!" Akane growled,

Hari-kun smirked, "I can make it change colors."

"Do not touch the hair!" Akane shrieked, slightly mollified when Hari-kun winced.

"Alright, alright. I won't _touch_ it."

Akane looked at Hari-kun suspiciously before turning to Hanae-chan, whining, "Hanae-chan, Hari-kun's looking suspicious."

"Me?" Hari-kun looked mock hurt, "Why would anyone say I look suspicious? I'm just a civilian."

"Just a civilian and a prankster's son." Hanae-chan deadpanned. She looked thoughtful about something.

"Did I mention that I had two godfather's that were prankster's too?" Hari-kun asked idly.

"You're not helping your case." Hanae-chan laughed.

"No? Well I take after my mother personality and intelligence wise. So there." Hari-kun chuckled, jumping as Hayate-san coughed after the man had laughed in amusement. "So big bad wolf, does that cough have a name?"

"Big bad wolf?" Hayate-san asked in amusement.

Hari-kun flushed, "It's from a children's story about three little, you know what, nevermind."

"No no, I want to hear this." Izumi teased.

Hari-kun's face became increasingly red, "And I'll write it down, but I'm not going to tell a children's story to a bunch of adults!"

"Is it one of the stories you tell to the children at the orphanage?" Kazou-sensei asked.

Blinking, Hari-kun did not even question how Kazou-sensei knew he went to the orphanage, simply replying, "Hai," before bowing in greeting, "Konbanha, my name is Shiro-fukurō Harii."

/

/

Shiro-fukurō Harii was an interesting civilian. Kazou mused from the corner of the room, watching Hari-san interact with the genin, Hayate-san, Izumo-san and Kotetsu-san. Most civilians were cautious even in the day-to-day interactions with shinobi. They were almost always fine with shinobi acting unusually (so long as damage was repaired when it occurred), they were fine hiring shinobi for missions (most often they were D-ranks) and they didn't bat an eye at making more profit (selling food, equipment, and the like), but when a civilian was obviously surrounded by dangerous killers, they got nervous. Hari-san didn't. It was almost as if Hari-san was accustomed to constant danger. He had shadows in his eyes from at least seeing trauma, but those same eyes seemed too open to be a ninja. It was more than possible that Hari-san was a civilian that had seen war. After all he was a foreigner even if he did look remotely like the Uchiha. His reflexes were fast, perhaps as fast as a well trained genin. Hn... Something to think on.

/

/

.-.-.-.

/

/

Part of Naruto's day with the Hokage (On an early non-academy day):

Ojii-san!" Naruto darted into the Hokage's office.

"Naruto-kun! How have you been?"

"Here!" Naruto shoved some of the paperwork onto another part of the desk with his elbow and placed the covered steaming plate onto the empty potion of the desk The child bounced in excitement, "I made it for you all by myself."

"What is it?" The head of the Sarutobi clan inquired as he lifted the lid. Quite frankly, Hiruzen was surprised that Naruto was so enthusiastic over a food other than ramen. Not to mention that Naruto had managed to cook something other than cup ramen. He knew Hari-kun had been teaching the boy many things, but it was still amazing to see the result of his teaching. Even if Hari-kun never became a ninja, (honestly, having to go through so many things that literally scarred him as a civilian, a resourceful civilian, but still not a ninja, the Hokage wouldn't blame him.) Hiruzen wondered if he could persuade Hari-kun to become an academy teacher. Iruka-san could show him the ropes if Hari had trouble teaching multiple students.

"Cherry crumble! Try it! Try it!" Naruto watched impatiently as Hiruzen took the chopsticks and tentatively ate a small bite.

"...Have you started making your own cookbook too? You might eventually make a thicker cookbook than the Akimichi's. It would make good use of your growing calligraphy skills" _That was doubtful as Akimichi's specialized in food and more than several generations worth of recipies. Quite a number of aspiring cooking-nin had come from that clan..._

"Jiji! You're paperwork should be done by now, you promised." Naruto complained.

The Hokage hummed, "What did I promise again?"

Naruto gasped in horror, "Jiji! You, you FORGOT?!"

"No, no."The Sanadaime reassured the restless lad, chuckling, "Just a trick- see? Most of the paperwork was a genjutsu for intruders that don't knock." The hint went over Naruto's head,

"Ah, Okay then. To RAMEN!" The Hokage sighed, and just when Naruto was beginning to expand his diet. Oh well, it wouldn't be Naruto otherwise.

/

/

.-.-.-.

/

/

Hari got home a few hours after the sun had set. He knocked on Naruto's door, but was still unprepared for the whirlwind of orange that knocked him over in a hug. Hari stiffened, "Hari nii-san! ...Hari? Are you alright?" Naruto asked when Hari didn't move, just as quickly jumping off of the other boy.

Hari swallowed and took a deep breath, "Yeah Otouto. Just... yeah." Harry trailed off, "I liked the hug." Hari whispered quietly as he met Naruto's blue eyes and slowly sat up. How long had it been since he had familial bonds to keep him anchored? He still subconsciously flinched every time he treated as well, a person. He wrapped his arms around himself, continuing despite the lump in his throat, "I'm just not used to it I guess."

"Not used to what?" Naruto asked uncharacteristically quiet.

"...Being treated as family." Hari choked, feeling lost and slightly dizzy.

"But you are family. What do you mean?"

"I don't remember my parents well. I wouldn't remember them at all if not for the soul sucking nature of the Dementors. All I can remember is hearing my father die and my mother die for me. An evil green light and _his_ laughter. Then I was deposited like a milk jug on my aunt's porch in the middle of the night." Hari let Naruto drag him inside his apartment before continuing, numbly accepting a cup of ramen. Hari laughed weakly, off course Naruto would offer him his life's comfort food while he broke down. "Albus didn't even bother to knock on the door, just left a letter. ...My first memory was of my cupboard."

Naruto waved his hands above his head, "What do you mean, your cupboard?!"

"It was my prison, but it was also a minor haven. It could have been worse, I could have grown up in a dog house." Hari mused, "But then the neighbor's would see." Hari mocked.

"Wait, wait! This was your aunt and you grew up in a cupboard?!" Naruto shouted, looking ill.

"Hmm? She was the kindest of the three. No burning the food, that was a rule though or she or Uncle would burn my hands. She only hit me a few times with the frying pan. No asking questions either. My cousin and his gang of friends would beat me up any time they could catch me. Occasionally Uncle would bring out the belt and break a few bones." Hari listed feeling detached as he did so. Naruto looked at a loss, perhaps even speechless. Hari forged on, "But usually they just locked me in the cupboard without food. Sometimes they'd forget and I'd somehow survive on bugs." Hari brightened, "Then, I think I was five or so, I found out my name wasn't Freak, it was Harry."

Naruto looked horrified, depressed, and somewhat understanding. He whimpered, "You didn't know your name?"

"No. It was Boy or Freak. Freak could count as a name right?" Why was he so dizzy and tired? Maybe all those late nights were catching up to him. It figures. He always became mouthy when he was depressed and close to fainting.

"NO!" Naruto yelped, his eyes watering, "No! It does not! I don't know much about family other than having you nii-san, but your relatives were not family."

"You are family." Hari nodded, "I had a second family. I'm not sure how many actually thought of me as a brother rather than someone on a pedestal. Sirus sometimes got me confused with my father, but that wasn't his fault. Molly...she was motherly and friendly, but she wasn't _my_ mother. By the time we met, I already knew how to survive and she was suffocating. She was also an Albus minion unless it was about _her_ children, but even then Albus's 'mighty' opinion had some weight. Ron was supposed to be my best friend but he wasn't there when I'd need him the most. The twins though... they knew I was an adult even though I was young. I didn't know Charlie that well. Bill... Bill was my older brother. And I left. I couldn't, I couldn't stay even for my older brother, my teacher." Hari grew slightly hysterical, "But I had to leave, I couldn't live with my relatives anymore!" Hari hiccuped, swaying, "I'm tired Naruto." And the world went dark.

/

/

.-.-.-.

/

/

"Jiji? What happened to nii-san?" Naruto asked, unusually somber as he stood behind the Hokage. "Was it poison?!"

"His body was exhausted." The Hokage responded quietly. Quite frankly the medical results were horrendous, but there wasn't anything Naruto could do about them. He was already fretting a lot.

"Was there anything else?" Naruto persisted, "Hari-nii wouldn't just faint, right?"

"Actually he could have lost consciousness very easily because of that." Jiji commented softly, diverting Naruto's attention away from answering more.

"Is it because Hari-nii doesn't eat enough?" Hari never looked so... pale and frail before. Naruto's hands were only slightly smaller than the other boy's and he remembered that Hari had barely weighed anything.

The Hokage blinked, "Hai. Hari's growth was heavily stunned by years of malnutrition. He's also not been sleeping enough."

Naruto took a deep breath before staring at the Hokage, "His relatives hurt him. And someone named Albus. I won't let them hurt him anymore! I'll become strong enough that I can protect all my family and Konoha! And be the greatest Hokage ever!"

/

Naruto worked on his homework underneath Hari-nii's hospital bed, listening to Hari's steady breaths as he silently kept an ear out for any nurses that would throw him out. He was hidden by the draping sheets. When he ran out of homework, he worked on his calligraphy.

Many people forgot that Naruto could hide just as easily as he could stand out. How else would he have pulled off so many successful pranks on the higher level ninja? So now, he remained hidden within the hospital in order to guard Hari.

The only times Naruto left Hari's side was to use the restroom and go to the academy (to keep up appearances). He listened as nurses checked up on Hari and silently listed all of Hari's injuries in his mind. Naruto knew the old man had been trying to reassure him, but really Hari was more hurt than anyone had realized. His list of injuries alone was equal to if not more than some shinobi. Only, Hari's injuries weren't shinobi mission or training injuries. In someways Naruto wished that he had seen that Hari had needed help sooner. But as he listened to a young medic rant at Hari, Naruto realized that Hari was apparently very good at avoiding even medic-nin's immediate attention. The night Hari had collapsed, he had spent a number of hours around four healers (even if three were genin) and none of them had noticed either.

/

/

.-.-.-.

/

/

"Report." A low raspy voice growled.

"Hai Danzo-sama." An emotionless voice replied, starting to list everything that the Root-nin had discovered about Shiro-fukurō Harii, the neighbor of Konoha's resident jinchuriki. But when the unnamed nin started listed off every single injury that the boy had received in his life, Danzo ordered the young adult male to note only the significant injuries or anything that seemed off. Including details about the boy's malnutrition and an unusually large snake bite, Shiro-fukurō Harii's lack of developed and unbalanced chakra, the Root operative finally ended with, "At first the other medics seemed to think that someone was trying to target one or more of Konoha's special jounin, chunin, genin medics and yet somehow the reported civilian was the only one that was poisoned. Upon closer examination, it was determined that his genetics may have been altered or adapted to produce poison. It may be an unreported bloodline, likely from somewhere in Kiri. Hushed gossip gave several reasons from the boy's unbalanced chakra, but the popular theory is that the boy was experimented upon."

"Genetic adaption...? Tenzo aside, I doubt that the traitor Orochimaru would have let one of his experiments escape from him so easily." Danzo dismissed his agent. Standing in an alert position, Danzo pondered the not-ninja civilian. The snake injury was currently the most interesting as a poison bloodline was not all that uncommon in Kiri (despite the bloodline purges), but the boy could have moved to Suna (an area where the locals were said to feed and bled poison instead of blood). As there were few places one could find snakes big enough for the circular scar on the boy's left arm, that left either Konoha's forest of death or Orochimaru. Despite his civilian status, the boy was possibly a threat. Shiro-fukurō Harii could be a sleeper Kiri-nin (if his bloodline had remained undiscovered), Suna-nin, or Kumo-nin (his last name a nod to the rumored Owl scroll) and/or an escaped experiment of the traitor sannin. However, not even Orochimaru would keep someone of the boy's potential untrained, if only to discover Shiro-fukurō's limits. So the jinchuriki's neighbor was a puzzle.

It was past time to research into the puzzle of Shiro-fukurō Harii; Danzo just fumed that he hadn't known the jinchuriki had a neighbor (read: one of the few friendly civilians willing to form the possibility of a friendship with the Yodaime's legacy) until said neighbor had landed in the hospital. Surely there had been ANBU watching Shiro-fukurō Harii interacting with the Hokage's favored pre-genin. How had the young man slipped under _his_ radar even as a so called civilian?

/

/

.-.-.-.

/

/

Hari coughed, groaning as he woke up and realized he was within a hospital, "What day is today?"

"November third." A brisk voice replied not unkindly.

Hari blinked, struggling to move his head to the side, "How long have I been out? You look familiar."

"Four days. I am Kenji Kazuo, Kamizuki Hanae's sensei."

"Ah, well, erm, hi." Kazuo-san snorted lightly, as Hari counted back the days, "Huh, I forgot about my birthday. I should have expected something to happen then."

"Does something life-threatening normally happen on your birthday?" Kazuo-san inquired.

"Uh-huh," Hari yawned, "It's not usually my fault though."

A dark look surfaced before disappearing on the adult's face (from the faint whipping marks on the boy's back and the obvious lack of prior professional medical attention, Kazuo didn't doubt that assessment). "Are you feeling stiff or any sore?"

"Hai." Hari confirmed, eyes widening as Kazuo-san's hand lit up with green chakra. He threw his body off the bed before the green could reach him.

"Hari? Are you alright? Why did you do that? You shouldn't be throwing yourself off your bed."

"What was that?" Hari scooted away from Kazuo's hands, glaring at the man, "Are you trying to kill me?"

Kazuo-san's face looked puzzled, "Have you never seen healing chakra before?"

"...No. I've seen a green light kill people though. One hit and you are dead, no sign of anything wrong except the person is no longer alive." Listening closer, Hari reached out and lifted his sheets. He smiled fondly at the sleeping boy who had been guarding his bed even as he worked on his handwriting.

"What's he doing there?" Kazuo-san looked startled.

"I'd imagine he was guarding the bed. I did faint on him." Hari pointed out, hoping that Kazuo-san wasn't one of the people who hated Naruto.

"You have a very loyal friend then." Kazuo-san remarked, "A very clever one. He's better at hiding than I would have suspected with that jumpsuit."

"He likes orange." Hari shrugged, trying to crawl to his feet.

"I'm going to help you get back in the hospital bed." Kazuo-san waited for Hari to grudgingly nod in agreement before lifting him back onto he bed.

"Do you mind not using that green chakra for now?"

"I won't." Kazou-san easily lifted Hari into the hospital bed, "You need to eat and then sleep."

Hari sighed, "How annoying." And Kazou-san chuckled in surprise. "What?"

"Nothing. You sound like a Nara."

Hari lifted an eyebrow, "The clan with all the deer? I'm cool with that. Stags remind me of my father."

"Your father? Did he act like a Nara?"

Hari chortled, finally explaining, "Sleep is to a Nara what pranks were to my dad. Or at least that's what I've pieced together from Sirus's comments."

"So how do stags remind you of your father?"

"It was his favorite animal." Hari inwardly smirked.

"Who is Sirus?"

"He was my godfather. Unfortunately he wasn't able to raise me."

"Ah, the food's arrived."

Hari made a face, subtly probing the soup for any toxins or poisons with his magic before taking a sip of the fish broth. "So... What happened exactly?"

"Exhaustion or poison. Both would be true." Kazou-san remarked mildly. Yet Hari flinched, feeling as if the man's eyes were drilling into his.

Hari started, "Poison?"

"Your body seems to produce a poison within your blood. You didn't know?" Kazou-san's dark eyes narrowed slightly as he lifted an eyebrow.

"It's still there?!" Hari asked in a daze.

"You weren't born with it?" Kazou-san inquired in interest.

"Merlin, No! I was about Naruto's age when I was bitten by a basilisk."

"A basilisk?" Kazou-san certainly knew how to dig for information. Hari, knowing of some strange things

"The king of serpents some might claim. Anyway it was a really long, old snake with very potent venom and evil eyes and I... dropped into it's den." Hari mumbled. _As long as he left out the specific details like the facts that it was at least a thousand years old, sixty to eighty feet long, and had a killing gaze maybe Kazou-san would draw his own conclusions._

"So how are you alive?" Kazou-san prompted.

Hari winced, "Luck. I found a sword that I could barely lift and pieced it's brain when it nearly swallowed me, but one of it's fangs broke off into my arm."

"Where did you say the snake's den was?"

"Hn? In my school's bathroom." Hari admitted sheepishly. _Though I'm not going to tell anyone that it was a girl's bathroom._ "There was a faucet that was a button that dropped you down a slide." ..._And I'm not going to mention I found it because I used to be able to talk to snakes. _"I was fortunate to not have fallen in first- one of my teachers was there too." _Also not mentioning he was quite bluntly a meat shield and was a flobberworm of a teacher._

"Shouldn't he have taken care of the deadly snake then?"

_I have an idea! It would explain how I didn't die then without mentioning Fawkes. Lie with truths. And pretend that the man was remotely competent, _"He was... hit on the head, but after he woke up he tried to... cure the poison. But Lockheart-san," _who doesn't deserve any respect, _Hari winced, "He... used unusual methods. If your arm was broken, he'd try to cut off the arm." Kazou-san looked incredulous for a moment,

"He doesn't sound like a medic of any sort." Kazou-san deadpanned.

Hari chortled, "Thank goodness for that, but it didn't stop him from trying his... unusual solutions. I may have been very woozy, not quite unconscious, but... after surviving, the few that care were just surprised that what ever he did actually worked for once. I think he said something about tears once." _Yeah, dramatic tears,_ "I'm not completely surprised there was some after effect even after all this time. I wouldn't have known, I recovered and none of the rare medics that treated me said anything about it."

"Why did none of the medics notice?"

_Either it was orders or Madam Pomfrey's methods were behind muggle or ninja methods, _Hari shrugged, "I only went to the medics after something life-threatening. I've never had a check-up."

"Well, we'll have to resolve that issue." Kazou-san smirked, "As you are going to be staying in this room for at least two weeks."

"TWO WE-eks!" Hari shouted, belatedly remembering that Naruto was sleeping on the floor.

"...Hari-nii?" the other voice yawned.

/

/


	8. Chapter 8: Hayate, Iruka, and Hinata

Shiro-fukurō Harii

Chapter 8: Hayate, Iruka, and Hinata

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Naruto

Authors Note: Last Chapter for the next year and a half.

Thank you for the grammar correction.

Don't worry about any romance- someone just has a one sided crush on Hari. Hari's nowhere near close to having any sort of romantic relationship.

The reason why I have so many OC's running around is so Hari remains in the background of Konoha rather than meeting all the eccentric Jounin at once. (I'm not planning on any more OCs- six is enough for me [Medic team, Hanae's mom, and Kaede] and the medic team didn't originally have so much 'screen' time, but then... well the words just ran on. Everyone else is not an OC. The current matron of the village was Kabuto's sort of adopted mother. -not sure of timeline when she died).

This way when Hari finally does become well known, the OC's can verify Hari's presence within the village. The OCs are well connected to the ninja world, but they are not part of the front stage characters.

The Chamber of Secrets happened pretty much as it did in canon (except Harry was 10 instead of 12)- Hari is just diverting attention away from himself and Lockheart (since noone in Konoha knows him) is a convenient excuse.

Thank you StarofTime for your name suggestion for Squirrel-san. Even if he's not mentioned in this chapter.

/

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.-.-.-.

/

/

Hari peeked out the doorway. There were at least two nurses walking about. Eyes darting to the window, he frowned slightly. _If only he could walk on walls like shinobi. The vents were too small to be of use. So... he could risk the Gyffindor tactic and leave the window by bedsheets (not at all suspicious- note the sarcasm) try to calmly stroll down the hallways and somehow get caught. What's the Slytherin, Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff thing to do in this situation? A Ravenclaw might try to learn how to read their own medical charts. A Hufflepuff tactic would be to cheer the other inmates up. A Slytherin might try to cause chaos and slip out in the midst of that, but what's the best solution? _Hari pondered as he stretched, listening for the location of the nurses by their footsteps or breathing. (He could locate the medics with a pulse of magic much easier, but that didn't matter when he didn't have the speed to evade any of the medic-nin). _Actually, what is the Naruto solution to do? Break a wall down? But then Hari would have more than just medic-nin after him. Erg! I mean if Naruto was intelligent about his situation then he might be able to pull of wearing a henge and getting out of here. But while I can imitate a henge with my magic, I don't want to show my skills off. Not without having some explanation for it. They already have too many awkward questions. _Hari glanced down at his right hand, _And I need more Weaseley Skin Paint for that particular scar. A day or two more and the paint will flake off. _Hari retreated away from the doorway, settling in a corner to do curl-ups and plot. _I need a plan. Can I smuggle myself out in the laundry? The morgue is too 'permanent' to be of use. Ask Naruto for some supplies... sounds promising, but in the meantime onto the next thought. Wheedle my way into the kitchen?_

/

/

"Naruto!" Harry cheered, slightly bouncing in a sitting position on the hospital bed as Naruto arrived. If Hari was pointedly ignoring the nurse behind the other boy, that was of no consequence. He simply had a healthy respect for the woman's ability to berate and keep ninja in their hospital beds. Not that it worked for every one, as some shinobi managed to escape before the medic-nin could rant and rage at them. This particular medic-nin was one of the better nurses that kept patients from escaping. Hari didn't want to give her reason to set up a watch on his room before he could leave without permission. He was fine! All well rested and everything.

"I tried to bring you ramen nii-san, but she caught me." Naruto didn't look too sorrowful at that fact, "She let me eat it instead of simply throwing it out."

Hari smirked, "Did you tell her thank you? Or express some other method of gratitude?" He enjoyed watching Naruto making the nurse uncomfortable, obviously not accustomed to being loudly and exuberantly thanked.

"You're not a Gai-san follower are you?" The nurse casually double-checked the name on Hari's paperwork, as if she was wondering if Hari had another name.

"Who?" Naruto and Hari asked in chorus.

The nurse let out a small sigh of relief. As she retreated, they heard her mumble, "...bad enough that he was given a team..."

"Did you bring a game? Or even paper? I'm dying of boredom in here!" Hari whined, actually whining, because he had never liked being confined to one spot for more reasons than boredom. He could only meditate or nap for so long and white walls were tedious to examine. If it wasn't a hospital, he'd have suggested some scheme to 'decorate' the whiteness.

Naruto rubbed his head and Hari felt his heart sink, "Gomen, nii-san I didn't, but I promise I will next time and the future Hokage should be able to keep his promises!"

"Well, what do we do then?"

"This!" Naruto thrust a scroll into Hari's arms, "I finished coping that one."

"...Looks good. Your handwriting gets better as you get closer to the finish." Naruto beamed at the praise, "It's a good thing we started with the basics." Hari mumbled, thinking about Naruto's improved reading (and comprehension) skills in addition to the calligraphy. Those were the hardest of lessons sometimes, but it had been worth it getting something to stick in the hyperactive kid's brain.

"So... nii-san, did you say your birthday is in October too?" Naruto asked in curiosity, dancing on his feet in badly hidden anticipation.

"Err... sort of? It's actually at the end of July, the seventh month, but was usually celebrated at the end of October. Well 'celebrating' is a stretch most times. Even I get confused sometimes." _Mostly because I didn't care for either day._ "Well I say celebrated, but honestly the day is normally... eventful."

Perhaps because Naruto knew what it was like to feel dread rather than excitement on his birthday, the younger boy didn't push the topic of not having known Hari's birthday. In his rarely used insight, Naruto asked, "So you end up in the hospital a lot?"

"More than I want to." Hari fiddled with his hands, "Or should. I don't think anyone that's not a medic-nin wants to be at the hospital."

Naruto snickered, before looking at Hari hesitantly, "Hari-nii why did your family hurt you?"

Hari froze, blinking before gulping, "How much did I tell you?"

"You won't be mad?"

Hari shook his head, deflating, "The only one who could have told you anything was me. And now that I'm thinking back on my melt down, I'm not too surprised from what coherent pieces I can remember. I tend to bottle my issues up." Hari shrugged, "In answer to your question, I didn't find out for a long time, but what I was eventually able to piece together that my mom had an ability that her sister did not. I'm not sure but my grandparents may have favored my mom over her sister or at least that is how Aunt Petunia perceived it."

"Perceived?"

"It means how things are viewed. For example some people call a tomato a vegetable. And some people call a tomato a fruit. So my aunt got jealous because she got left behind in terms of ability, affection, and looks. The one time that the grown up sisters met after they both married, my father and particularly my godfather alienated-"

"Alienated?" Naruto interrupted. Hari suspected he did it not just because it was part of the boy's personality, but that he would have his questions answered.

"Offended or made an enemy of. Anyway, my aunt and uncle developed a high fear of my parents ability. And thus they feared and despised my existence."

"You use a lot of big words Hari-nii." Naruto complained "What does despised mean?"

"You'll have to get used to big words." Hari smirked, " Three synonyms for despised include detested, scorned and... uncared for. Synonyms are related words to define the original word, rather than a definition, which is an explanation of the original word."

"So your life was like mine? Is that why you are helping me?" Naruto wasn't quite frowning, but Hari could see the unease in the other boy's eyes and postures.

"No, I was just helping just because you are Naruto. I still am, even knowing your childhood is depressingly and alarmingly similar to my own." Hari reassured him, "It's not pity, it's understanding."

"Was it lonely?" Naruto asked out of the blue

"Was what lonely?"

"Your childhood."

Hari winced as he nodded, "Very much so. Except it was me everyone glared at on a much smaller scale. Rather than my village, the shunning was contained within my neighborhood and school. I made my first human friend when I was eleven, but my best friend was an owl I named Hedwig."

"Animals don't like me." Naruto responded sullenly,

"And when I was still effected by a curse, they didn't like me either." Hari shrugged before amending, "Well, most animals. Most creatures with wings or a connection to the air like me very much."

"What's your favorite animal then?"

"Owls. But deer are cool too, but they can't fly or fit into a bedroom very well."

Naruto snickered, "There's an idea. Somehow get the Nara deer into the Nara households."

"You're picking up big words already, I'm so proud!" Hari teased, pretending to wipe tears away.

Naruto pouted, but looked highly pleased with himself, "See! I told you I was going to become the greatest Hokage ever."

"But you're always going to be my little brother." Hari smirked as Naruto blushed, pushing the copied scroll into Naruto's arms, "Now that needs to go on the place of honor on the scroll rack. Good job on the calligraphy."

"Arigatou nii-san!" Naruto waved as he ran off.

"And come back with an empty scroll or something!" Hari yelled after him. The room was already becoming too silent again.

/

/

.-.-.-.

/

/

"Where have you been?!" Hari demanded, looking for signs of injury, "Did you get hurt?"

"I'm fine nii-san." Naruto brushed off, but looking pleased that Hari noticed anything off.

"Fine? You are covered in dirt and disheveled! That means you got into a fight or 'spar' with your classmates, a prank while skipping school, rolled in the mud while skipping school, or had extenuating circumstances." Hari listed off with an irate scowl, "Now, what happened?"

Naruto rubbed his dirty blonde locks in his classic sheepish gesture. He took a deep breath, "Well... _it started out that I leftschoolearly..."_ Naruto enthused about his latest prank,_ "...And then I ranintothreeenemykunouchi and theytriedtokillme but Iruka-sensei came and distracted them and a white haired shinobikilledthem and then Iruka-senseisaidsorryandsawmeforthefirsttime and tookmeoutforramen!"_

Hari just blinked, absorbing Naruto's jumbled story. He absently thought a police man would have given the words a ticket for speeding. "So... extenuating circumstances. I'm glad you are still alive."

"I made you a cake!" Naruto revealed a small crumbly orange cake then, "Happy belated birthday."

Hari smirked, "I'm still going to scold you for skipping and nearly getting killed because of it, but the lecture can wait. Your cake looks excellent. Everything at the hospital just tastes and looks basically the same. Cool new word."

"Thanks! And I brought the scroll you were looking for to read!" Naruto proudly presented. _Where'd that come from? _Hari blinked,_ I'm positive that even if Naruto had somehow hidden a cake behind his back while he rubbed his head with one hand, I should have seen the bulky scroll._

"Arigatou Naruto. Oy! Don't eat the cake all by yourself!"

"But I'm hungry!" Naruto whined, "And it's orange!"

"At least save me a slice!" Hari hurriedly hid the scroll beneath his flat pillow and snatched a piece of the pumpkin cake. _Mmm... tastes like home... even if it is slightly... crunchy. _"Good job on the cake, it tastes good but you need to remember the butter or oil next time."

/

/

After Naruto left, Hari set up temporary wards that wouldn't last longer than a day that would prevent anyone from bothering him while he read the scroll. Being dedicated to hobby (and life skill) of runic magic, Hari set to work learning the basics of fuinjutsu with enthusiasm. He didn't go to sleep until there wasn't even a candlelight's worth of light to see by. Hari yawned, shrinking the scroll and tucked it into an invisible bag on his neck. The magicked bag contained everything that his shrunken trunk tied to his wrist didn't. The only problem was that the notice-me-not charm on the invisible bag was so strong that even Hari forgot his extra emergency supplies most of the time. Taking down his wards, Hari hoped none of the medics would find out that he hadn't slept that night.

/

/

"Are you Umino Iruka?" Hari asked as a brown haired individual with the identifiable horizontal scar across his nose and cheeks followed Naruto into his hospital room.

"Hai. May I ask for your name? My student seems to have neglected mentioning your name."

"Hey!" Naruto protested before pausing, "...I guess I did forget to mention his name. It's Hari!"

"Shiro-fukurō Harii, to be exact. Thank you for protecting Naruto."

Iruka frowned slightly, "How do you know Naruto?"

"Why I am the older brother and neighbor of the future Hokage." Hari finished wryly, "It's a hard thing to go from seeing someone who means pain to see them as family. You are rather clear minded and brave to get over your prejudice so quickly."

Iruka shrugged off the traces of his remaining shame, as he focused on the boy who he was certain he had never seen before, "And why do you care?"

"Me? It's Naruto, how can you not care about the ball of sunshine?"

"I'm not round!" Naruto immediately denied,

Iruka chuckled, "I'd imagine it comes from your lack of vegetables."

"Vegetables are EVIL! Except when Hari makes them, you can't even tell that there are veggies sometimes."

Hari nodded, "And if you don't eat your vegetables, I can hide all his ramen." Naruto's face filled with horror. Smiles twitched onto Hari and Iruka's lips.

"Hey! Don't touch my RAMEN! RAMEN is awesome and you should respect it as such."

"I don't think I could ever worship ramen as much as you." Hari sounded playfully mournful, "After all you are a _maelstrom_ of noodles. In fact, there have been times when I've wondered if you have broth for blood _fishcake_."

Iruka snickered, "Nice play on words."

Hari shrugged, "I try. So... do you think you can persuade the medics to let me go home?" Iruka just laughed.

/

/

.-.-.-.

/

/

Finally making a break for freedom...

Hari ducked into a room, tucking himself into the shadows behind the door. Holding his breath, he sighed in relief as Hanae stomped passed the room. Instinctively looking around the room and finding it empty, Hari was about to slip out of the door and head a different direction from the seething medic in training, when...

A cough caused Hari to nearly jump into the ceiling, swerving around and spotted an amused shinobi sitting in a hospital bed who had gone unnoticed in Hari's brief surroundings check. A shinobi that Hari had met not too long ago, "Hayate-san?!"

"T-trying to leave early?" Hayate-san asked, a smirk settling on his lips once the man had regained his breath.

"Erm...no? I mean yes I want to leave and and Hanae's no doubt telling the other healers that I'm not in my room. It's not like I was expecting Hanae to come visit just when I was trying to sneak out of this place. But I shouldn't even have to sneak out as I am well rested and everything; and it wouldn't be leaving early- just on time. Or late even. I don't think I've ever spent longer than a week in a hospital." Hari hurriedly explained.

Hayate-san laughed again, "So how do you intend to evade the medic-nin?"

"Well I figure if they find people by ninja using chakra, I figured that their detection wouldn't work if I didn't use chakra."

Hayate-san raised an eyebrow, "Every living being has chakra, so they probably will find you in a matter of moments."

Hari shrugged. Having never used chakra, maybe there was a possibility that his was odd or none existent. But that wouldn't be right, Hanae had said something about his chakra signature before. "Huh. What level are we on again?"

A cough rattled Hayate's frame, "T-the second." The man wheezed.

Hari knew his eyes were full of concern, but still tried to distract the man with some deadpan humor, "Would the medics catch up if I used a rope of bedsheets?" Hari moved closer to the medical paperwork near the shinobi.

"Unless you know how to walk on walls," Hayate coughed again. Hari winced at the harsh sound, handing the older man a glass of water. Hayate nodded, continuing as he regained his breath, "Arigatou. Anyway, I wouldn't recommend it."

"How does walking on walls work anyway? Is it like magnets, metals that stick together or repel each other by an unseen pull or push?" Hari enthused, "Or is it like how a spider or gekko would climb the walls? -But that doesn't explain how you can walk as if gravity changed direction?"

Hayate laughed and began to explain the concept of chakra control amid bouts of coughing.

"But what does chakra feel like?" Hari persisted.

"It feels like life." A woman, who was importantly not a nurse, entered the room.

"Life? Like I don't know, being self aware of your blood systems?" Hari unconsciously rubbed his forehead where his scar had once been.

"Hn." The woman's eyes revealed guarded tired amusement, reaching for Hari's hand. She tugged on Hari's network and Hari stumbled backward, falling on the floor with a gasp.

"Whoa!" Hari blinked owlishly up at the other woman, "How did you do that?"

"I just tugged on your chakra network brat." She smirked as she sat on Hayate's right side. Hayate's arm encircled the woman's waist.

"Hayate-san's a good teacher." Hari blurted out as, flushing as the two laughed.

"He sure is." The blue-purple haired lady smirk grew to the size of a Cheshire Cat's grin, "My name is Uzumi Yugao."

"Shiro-fukurō Harii." Replied Hari hastily as he rose to his feet, "I'm- I'm just going to go now." The blushing wizard fled as the two adults laughed behind him.

/

/

.-.-.-.

/

/

Now free from the hospital, Hari celebrated by dropping in on Naruto while the other boy was eating ramen. To Iruka's not so hidden relief, Hari paid Naruto's tab before Iruka was stuck with the bill, chirping, "Hey Naruto! Hello Umino-san!"

"It's Iruka. I'm only a few years older than you." The Academy teacher corrected, "Aren't you supposed to still be at the hospital?"

"Nope." Hari grinned, "I signed out and everything. I'm in no danger of passing out, not visibly injured and I can walk, that was good enough reason for the receptionist."

Iruka looked at the boy, a few years younger than him, sceptically, "When did you last eat? Actually what did you eat?"

"..." Hari couldn't remember what he had eaten, "Some time ago?" The raven-haired boy offered sheepishly.

Iruka rolled his eyes and ordered a simple chicken ramen for Hari. Both Naruto and Iruka made sure that Hari finished it before they left Ichiraku's. In turn, Hari pestered Iruka to show off his chakra control, starting Naruto off on a competition (that left more bumps on the noggin than not) to see how soon it would take himself to get further up the tree.

Iruka seemed amazed that Naruto easily understood certain class lectures once he had the practical experience to base his interest off of. Humming in thought, Iruka waved goodbye to the boys, Hari keeping a watch on Naruto's slow progress.

/

/

Hari winced as Naruto blasted off once the tree trunk once more. Thinking back to Naruto's issues with the clone jutsu, Hari wondered if it was a similar issue that kept Naruto from getting higher than a kick-jump. Maybe his chakra was just too dense. So... what would be harder than applying chakra to your feet?

"Naruto!" Hari shouted.

"Itai!" Naruto popped off the ground, "You did that on purpose! I almost had it!"

/

Naruto deflated as Hari just stared at him with a raised eye brow. "Alright, so I was just wondering if you tried to apply your whole body with chakra in order to climb up the tree."

"Why?" Naruto tilted his head.

"Well, Iruka-san said that too much chakra and you blast off the tree right?"

"Hai." Naruto nodded.

"And too little chakra and you don't stick?" There was a gleam in Hari's eye that Naruto had come to know meant that his nii-san had an idea.

"Hai." Naruto nodded cautiously. _What was nii-san up to?_

"I think your problem is mainly using too much and so if you made it harder, only using your hands or crawling up like a squirrel except you don't have a tail... Am I making any sense?"

Naruto shook his head, "Not really."

Nii-san huffed, "So you've been trying to focus on pointing your chakra to your feet right?"

"Hai... Is that wrong?"

"No, it should be right. What I'm trying to say is focus chakra into your hands at the same time you use chakra in your feet."

"Oh!" Naruto beamed, "Thanks nii-san." It still took him the rest of the day (and several night hours) before he could get up half the tree like a squirrel. Yawning, nii-san towed Naruto back to his apartment and fell asleep on Naruto's couch after tossing empty ramen packets out of his way.

Naruto would have snuck out to practice more but, Hari's sleepy glare stopped him. Sheepishly, he rubbed his head and went to bed.

/

/

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked as he noticed Harry sitting on a branch above his attempts to climb a tree trunk with no hands.

"Learning with you. I'm not planning on becoming a ninja, but this way you're not alone." Hari grunted as he struggled to channel chakra (_not magic_, Hari reminded himself) to the leaf on his forehead. Hari began to find it easier when he settled into a meditative position and pretended not to notice Naruto's watery eyes.

"But if you're not going to become a shinobi, what use is this exercise for?" Naruto asked, facing away from Hari.

"Not every warrior is a ninja, Naruto. The ANBU are accustomed to fighting other ninja, which is probably the reason you get away with so many pranks."

"Except for Iruka-sensei." Naruto pointed out.

"Except for Iruka." Hari amended, "Because the ANBU are accustomed to ninja tactics and techniques, they don't look around as well as they should for other types of attackers. They're looking for traces of chakra when you used none. On the other hand, pranksters often know the secrets of other pranksters. Iruka might have been one when he was a kid."

"Iruka-sensei, a prankster?" Naruto gaped at Hari, "Have you met him?!"

"Indeed, I knew a retired prankster quite like him. Remus lost his enthusiasm for pranks when my parents died and he believed that one friend had betrayed them. However, he still knew how to avoid being pranked when he became a teacher, because he had been a prankster."

"But I can still prank Iruka-sensei!" Naruto pointed to himself proudly, "So that means I am a better prankster than he was!"

"Be careful. One of these days Iruka might just retaliate." Hari chided the other boy, rolling his eyes when Naruto got more fired up rather than being more cautious.

"Yatta! I will get Iruka-sensei to show off an amazing prank!"

"You do realize that you are more likely to be the target, right?"

"No I won't! I'm too awesome of a prankster!"

Hari sighed, unable to resist smiling fondly at Naruto. At least the boy didn't have a twin, Hari wasn't sure how he would react if there was a pair of pranking red-headed twins wandering about. He, like most of the Weasely family, still mourned the loss of Fred. But at least George was still alive to run the joke shop.

/

/

.-.-.-.

/

/

Ignoring the argument/fight that Iruka was having with Naruto with practiced ease, Hari tapped on Naruto's shoulder, "Naruto, some mail from your grandpa arrived."

Naruto tore his attention away from Iruka, blinking at Hari, "Mail from Jiji?"

Taking advantage of Naruto's distraction, Iruka swiftly tied Naruto up, "Thank you Hari."

"No problem. Naruto will just have to wait until after school to see the mail." Iruka groaned as Naruto perked up.

"What if I manage to leave before class ends?"

"Then there won't be any mail. I'll just ask the Hokage to take back the jutsu scroll..." _Actually there wasn't a jutsu scroll... yet. Naruto had to talk with the Hokage first._

Panicking, somehow Naruto managed to wiggle free from most of the ropes and started dragging Iruka back to the academy, "Don't get rid of it nii-san! I'm going to school."

Iruka ruefully waved at Hari before he disappeared. Undoubtedly, the teacher was probably wondering why he hadn't thought of bribing Naruto with something other than ramen (which was very painful to Iruka's salary).

/

/

After Naruto served detention at school and visited the Hokage, Hari found Naruto studying a scroll on his own.

"So what did the old man give you?" Hari asked as he swept the floor.

Naruto brightened, "He gave me a scroll on how to make water and earth clones! I will be able to graduate this year! Look! My bushin don't look so bad now!"

"...It's getting better." Hari offered hesitantly as he inspected the clones. Ninja techniques really were fascinating. Instead of being piles of demented looking goo or weak zombies, Naruto's clones now looked more half-dead than completely dead.

"It helps when I make a lot of them." Naruto rubbed his head sheepishly as Hari dispelled the clones.

Hari looked around the small apartment, "Yeah, let's not do that inside."

"To the training grounds!" Naruto cheered.

/

/

Hari grimly examined the differences between the writings of the two scrolls. One was from the library, courtesy of Naruto's henge and the other was from a 'teacher' from the academy. Someone, actually several someones, were sabotaging Naruto's grades/ learning. It just reminded him of the Dursleys' encouraging Hari to sabotage his own grades in addition to the teachers' bias. It was a good thing he replicated the dirty originals before repairing them. He now had proof of the discrimination.

"Wonder how Iruka will take it." Hari mused. Unlike Naruto, he was much more wary of people and attention, yet Hari instinctively knew he could believe in Iruka once he met him. It didn't mean he trusted Iruka, but the teacher was gaining his respect each day Naruto came home with a (real) smile. Naruto chattered often on how Iruka was trying to make lessons more interesting (and catching students including himself who tried to skip). Actually now that lessons caught everyone's attention better, less people tried to skip. Iruka looked very pleased with himself the next time Hari caught up to him.

/

/

"So what did you do to make class Naruto's favorite thing of the day?" Hari asked. Naruto was off playing with three other boys, while Iruka was grading papers in the classrooms.

"I went from the textbook to declassified missions."

"Have you been keeping them on their toes?"

Iruka laughed, "No, Naruto does enough of that for both of us."

"Sorry about that." Hari muttered in embarrassment, "I made a comment about you probably being a retired prankster and now Naruto's determined to watch how you react."

"It's alright." Iruka waved it off, but Hari had seen that glint of mischievous revenge enough to know to be on the look out for incoming pranks. But considering he had only been pranked a few times ninja-style, Hari wasn't sure if he'd be able to dodge.

"Do you have some time?" Hari sent out a magic pulse, relieved when there was no one nearby. The closest person was presumably another teacher in a classroom on the other side of the school.

"For?" Iruka looked rather calm, but then again ninjas were trained to hide their emotions to some degree.

"Naruto." Hari answered grimly as he pulled out old tattered scrolls, "The information in these scrolls don't match the ones that were in the library."

Iruka's eyes were thunderous as he began to understand something. Naruto really was a smart kid, just not when information was given academically. But on top of that learning struggle, to be given false information... "Is there anyone else that you've talked to about this?"

"No." Hari shook his head, "He could barely read or write before I started teaching him if that helps."

Iruka eyed him distractedly, nodding, "Thank you for that. The little that he did write used to be a pain, however amusing, to read. Speaking of which, how did you teach him reading or writing." Iruka paused, "Or how to sit still long enough to learn?"

"Well... I would buy him ramen every so often, had him run around the village when he got to hyper and occasionally gave him a present." Seeing Iruka's interested incoming inquiry, Hari mumbled, "I made him a book every so often." Hari smiled sheepishly, "Nothing about being a shinobi or school stuff, but I'd hand write and draw a copy of children's books out of my clan's library."

"Your clan?"

"Yeah." Hari answered wistfully, "My... branch was wiped out in the past two civil wars"

"I've never heard of a clan called Shiro-fukurō."

"You wouldn't have. My... clan hides itself on an island even from ninjas. Anyway you could say that there were 'branch' family names, but there wasn't an actual clan name, so it wouldn't matter what my last name was."

"Hn." Iruka hummed in thought, "Makes sense, but how do you know who is related to who then?"

Hari grimaced, "The older branches kept records on tapestries."

"What's wrong with that?"

"It's not the records that were so much the problem, but several older branches believed that they should only interact or marry with older branches, but they were dying out. Well, it's complicated, but civil war has broken out twice within the past thirty years. Quite frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if another civil war started up and finally eliminated the clan." Hari sighed gloomily.

Iruka politely refrained from questioning Hari about said civil wars. "So, how did Naruto-kun enjoy the books you made him."

"I believe he liked them, but it might be because they are some of the first gifts he ever received. Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering." Iruka rolled up one of the damaged scrolls and placed it to the side.

Hari smirked mischievously as he changed the subject, "Did I mention I also had Naruto meditate every other fifteen minutes?"

"M-meditate?!" Iruka's head snapped up and he stared at Hari incredulously, "How in the world did you manage that? He just sleeps or bounces through those lessons!"

"It's called yoga. It's a moving type of meditation."

Iruka stared at Hari thoughtfully, "I'd like to see that one of these days."

"Sure." Hari shrugged, sending out another pulse of magic, relaxing as no one had moved closer, "So... speaking of misinformation, I've not found anything in the academy scrolls that Naruto's brought home that explains Naruto's solid henge."

"That's not possible." Iruka immediately replied

"Huh. Well, impossible things seem to happen a lot around me. I thought no one could walk up a tree like a ninja can, but yet they do." Hari shrugged, "You should ask Naruto about it. Just remind him to keep his jumpsuit on."

"Oh, _Oh._ Yeah I will remember that." Iruka ears turned red.

"Ja ne!" Hari waved as he left.

/

/

.-.-.-.

/

/

"Naruto... what are you doing?"

"Working on my taijutsu!" Naruto beamed. His self-practiced hand-to-hand combat was more of sloppily combined yoga moves and something that were supposed to be katas.

"...Did you make it yourself?" Hari asked weakly. From his minimal knowledge of hand-to-hand combat, that looked like nothing like taijutsu.

"Yatta! I made it myself! I have to become stronger! I am going to be the greatest Hokage this village ever had!" Naruto shouted.

"Naruto... Naruto calm down!"

"Sorry Hari." Naruto rubbed his head sheepishly.

"It's fine. It's just, I don't know that much hand-to-hand combat in the scheme of things. I'll teach you what little I know, but it would be better if you found another teacher for taijutsu."

"But who would be willing to teach me? I mean besides you and Iruka?"

"Well... earlier this morning I spotted a genin team. From what I overheard from other civilians and the team of shinobi, Gai-san is a master of taijutsu and Lee-san is a master in training. Both of them... are rather eccentric and are willing to teach anyone that asks, not that many do."

"Why's that? I would be willing to take training from anyone!"

"They wear green like you wear orange. They are also loud... just like you."

"Hey! Orange is awesome!" Naruto shouted before pausing, "...Just like me?"

"Well... maybe not exactly. But either one would be willing to teach you if you are willing to look underneath their masks."

"They wear masks?"

"Not physical ones. Masks of emotion like you use." A flash of understanding crossed Naruto's face before Naruto smiled at Hari,

"Don't worry! I can manage!" Naruto was about to run off, when Hari grabbed his arm,

"Remember they have a team. You should approach them when it is just one or both of the taijutsu shinobi. Otherwise... well, the team wouldn't become a team without some experiences together."

"So I could set up my own missions to build their teamwork!" Naruto beamed.

"...That's not quite what I meant, but sure, go ahead so long as you make sure the jounin won't accidentally kill you for it. Err... and avoid killing the genin."

"But nii-san! If an academy student is better than three genin, then why is the academy student not a genin?" Naruto wheedled.

"Life doesn't work that way." Hari sighed, "Not to mention the genin probably already have more field experience than said academy student. Anyway, don't genin graduate in groups of three?" Hari pointed out to the street below where a jounin and his students were walking in the direction of a restaurant.

"Is that Gai-sensei?" Naruto asked as he dashed off.

"Naruto! Wait! That's not Gai's team!" Hari ran to stop Naruto from accidentally ticking said group off. (It was fortunate that Naruto was very good at handling or running from angry people, because he irritated people just by showing up in his orange jumpsuit).

/

/

.-.-.-.

/

/

"Lee-kun!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai!"

"Lee!"

"Gai!"

Not batting an eye at the strangeness of the green shinobi, Hari interrupted their beginning exercises, "Excuse me, have you seen Naruto?"

...

"Yosh! Such springtime of youth! We shall help you find Naruto!"

"I'm past springtime." Hari dismissed, bowing slightly, "Thank you for your directions, but I'll be able to find Naruto on my own."

Gai stared thoughtfully after the odd civilian. Most shinobi couldn't stand Team Gai's antics (starting with two member's uniforms), let alone actually understanding what Gai meant by his proclamations. Yet this civilian didn't even bat an eye! He would have to keep an eye out for this civilian.

/

/

.-.-.-.

/

/

"Do you want to join?" a quiet voice asked from behind Hinata.

Hinata shrieked as she whirled around, "Who- who are y-you?"

The green eyed boy shrugged, "No one important. I'm just a civilian that knows a few things. So, do you want to join, Hinata? You seem rather intent on watching us."

"You k-know m-my n-name?" Hinata stuttered, dazed.

"Naruto does. He won't figure out that you have a crush on him for a long time, he's just that dense. However, working marital relationships begin with great friendships... if that is your plan anyway." Hari declared brazenly as he gently guided a speechless tomato red Hinata out of the shadows of the trees.

"Hinata! How are you? Are you going to join Hari and I?" Naruto waved, before slipping and landing on his head, "Itai!" The boy yelped before returning to his activity.

"H-hai." Hari looked warily at the girl who looked prone to fainting.

"Well for tree climbing, you first focus on the chakra that flows through your feet and try and attach it to the tree. Or you can also try and keep a leaf on your forehead by focus your chakra there..."

/

/

It took Hinata less then two days to master the tree walking exercise.

"That's awesome Hinata!" Naruto cheered, "It took me nearly a whole week before I got that fast!" The girl swooned, Naruto yelping and barely managing to catch her before she hit the ground, "Nii-san, why does she faint so much?"

Hari chuckled, "It's just you Naruto. She just idolizes you like a hero-" Hari coughed, _True, but I bet there's more to it. She seems too sane to be a fangirl,_ "and you just told her that she did better than you. I bet she's not used to the praise."

"Oh." Naruto blinked, staring at the girl in his arms.

Once Hinata had been revitalized, Hari challenged her to to do the forehead leaf exercise. Once she was successful, Hari grinned and had Hinata work on doing both exercises at once. She still fainted when Naruto praised her, but her stutter gradually disappeared when it was just the three of them.

/

/

.-.-.-.

/

/

Humming, Hari pulled out his current project from out of his shrunken trunk. Activating the security runes to prevent any watchers from noticing anything amiss, he set up three large half full scrolls, setting three large books next to them. Activating three enchanted pens (Hari was very proud of his work), the self-inking pens started writing where they left off. The enchanted pens not only copied information from a book (even if it had copyright magic on it) to the mostly empty scroll, but also translated the English words into Japanese. The only downside was that it needed the enchanter to write out several words in both languages, written in a variety of fonts/calligraphy styles. Watching for a while, Hari nodded in satisfaction and went to bed. Really, it was so helpful when when you could get work done while you were asleep.

/

/

"I've got an idea for a prank." Hari gestured to the three large scrolls behind him.

"Really?" Naruto darted over to the scroll, lifting it up, "Yatta! That's heavy! What do these have to do with a prank?"

"Well... they can serve as a distraction for after a prank. I made something that I'd imagine a mission scroll to look like and..." Hari handed a much smaller scroll over to Naruto and gestured him to open it.

"Cool!" Naruto shouted as he read the scroll. Hari winced and rubbed his forehead.

"So are you up for it?"

"You bet!" Naruto cheered.

/

/

.-.-.-.

/

/

The birds chirped in the early morning air. People stretched and yawned as they began to wake up. However, whenever someone entered or exited their apartment or building, there was explosion of paint that covered that person and entrance. There was enough paint that it would discharge three times (in different colors) before it was safe to travel through that window or door without setting off another colorful boom.

Coming off a mission and about to head home, Uzumi Yugao's eyes narrowed into slits as she noticed her own apartment was rigged with paint bomb. However, Yugao had more than enough experience to disarm, destroy, and evade the paint splatters. Tired, but not overly exhausted, Yugao immediately noticed that someone had entered her apartment. Posture of a hissing cat, she stalked around, inspecting every inch of her home. It was only when she entered her kitchen that she noticed anything amiss. Three large scrolls sat on her counter, a note written for her.

_'To Hayate's friend. Hope this helps.' _

With caution, Yugao paid attention for any sign of trickery. Slowly she broke the wax holding one of the seals. Her exhaustion fled as she slowly understood what she was reading. It was a list of information on various sicknesses that could match Hayate's symptoms. Within the description on each sickness, there was at least one method how to identify if the illness matched the diagnosis and what to do to in order to cure (or delay if there was no cure) that sickness.

Quickly breaking the wax on the other scrolls, she discovered that it was more information on similar topics, but in more detail for those who understood medical terminology. Without any more hesitation, Yugao sealed the scrolls closed and gathered them up, running to the hospital. Her hope was clenching a choke hold on her throat, but even with the lack of air, she got to the hospital in record time.


End file.
